Developing a Replication of a Wayfinding Study. From a Large-Scale Real Building to a Virtual Reality Simulation

Developing virtual reality (VR) simulations for replication of real-world studies in spatial cognition research is a tedious process, as numerous processes must be considered to achieve correspondence. In this chapter, we describe the development of a virtual model for a replication of a real-world study in the Seattle Central Library. The aim is to pragmatically report challenges and solutions in translating real-world conditions of complex and large-scale buildings into virtual reality simulations. For this aim, the chapter focuses on three steps for development: modelling the virtual environment, optimizing the performance, and designing the human-environment interaction.

[1]  Alexander Toet,et al.  Is a Dark Virtual Environment Scary? , 2009, Cyberpsychology Behav. Soc. Netw..

[2]  Christoph Hölscher,et al.  Virtual reality as an empirical research tool - Exploring user experience in a real building and a corresponding virtual model , 2015, Comput. Environ. Urban Syst..

[3]  Nilgün Olguntürk,et al.  The aid of colour on visuospatial navigation of elderly people in a virtual polyclinic environment , 2018, Color Research & Application.

[4]  Mikael Johansson,et al.  Users' evaluation of a virtual reality architectural model compared with the experience of the completed building , 2006 .

[5]  Kynthia Chamilothori,et al.  Adequacy of Immersive Virtual Reality for the Perception of Daylit Spaces: Comparison of Real and Virtual Environments , 2019 .

[6]  Yvonne de Kort,et al.  Virtual Laboratories: Comparability of Real and Virtual Environments for Environmental Psychology , 2003, Presence: Teleoperators & Virtual Environments.

[7]  Stefan Münzer,et al.  Acquisition of spatial knowledge through self-directed interaction with a virtual model of a multi-level building: Effects of training and individual differences , 2016, Comput. Hum. Behav..

[8]  Christoph Hölscher,et al.  The effect of crowdedness on human wayfinding and locomotion in a multi-level virtual shopping mall , 2019, Journal of Environmental Psychology.

[9]  Christoph Hölscher,et al.  Towards an Information-Theoretic Framework for Quantifying Wayfinding Information in Virtual Environments , 2017, CAID@IJCAI.

[10]  S. Psarra,et al.  Spatial Navigation in Real and Virtual Multi-Level Museums , 2017 .

[11]  Christoph Hölscher,et al.  Supra-individual consistencies in navigator-driven landmark placement for spatial learning , 2014, CogSci.

[12]  Christoph Hölscher,et al.  Exploring Individual Differences and Building Complexity in Wayfinding: The Case of the Seattle Central Library , 2019, Environment and Behavior.

[13]  G Franz,et al.  An empirical approach to the experience of architectural space in VR - Exploring relations between features and affective appraisals of rectangular interiors , 2003, eCAADe proceedings.

[14]  Sven Kuliga Saskia Weiser René Kammler Olaf and Fuchkin Schneider,et al.  VREVAL - A BIM-based Framework for User-centered Evaluation of Complex Buildings in Virtual Environments , 2018 .

[15]  Christoph Hoelscher,et al.  On the role of spatial analysis in design synthesis: the case of wayfinding , 2010 .

[16]  Daniel Nilsson,et al.  Evacuation experiments in a virtual reality high‐rise building: exit choice and waiting time for evacuation elevators , 2016 .

[17]  Dirk Donath,et al.  Examining Trade-Offs between Social, Psychological, and Energy Potential of Urban Form , 2019, ISPRS Int. J. Geo Inf..

[18]  Christoph Hölscher,et al.  People Watcher: An App to Record and Analyzing Spatial Behavior of Ubiquitous Interaction Technologies , 2015, PerDis.

[19]  Klaus H. Hinrichs,et al.  Gradual transitions and their effects on presence and distance estimation , 2010, Comput. Graph..