Exploratory spatial behaviour in real and virtual environments

Does real time navigation in a virtual urban environment of the same form as the real one reveal similar choices by first-time visitors? Movement in a path system introduces environmental information that may not be available in a virtual presentation; for example, feedback from one's own movement, the movement of others and other sensory stimuli. In this study, 43 visitors explored freely an enclosed path system in a real environment with which they were not familiar, comparing choices and providing motivations for their decisions. Another group of 25 participants explored a virtual reality (VR) presentation, also motivating their decisions. Both groups attempted to reconstruct their itineraries at conclusion. The path choices for the real and VR presentations were not statistically different, though clear preferences were expressed in the majority of the choice sets. Visitors to the real environment were able to remember about three times as much of their itinerary as the VR visitors. Information closely associated with the choice point itself dominates decision-making in both real and VR environments for first-time visitors, with a lesser role for cognitive mapping processes.