Augmenting virtual environments: the influence of spatial ability on learning from integrated displays

The present study examined if spatial knowledge gained from a virtual environment is affected by the spatial ability of the participant, and whether information can be more efficiently acquired and applied to a physical space when participants are given a display featuring both overhead and first-person visual cues. Three spatial training displays were examined: first-person view, overhead-map view, or first-person view with integrated map (composite view). Participants learned the locations of seven targets in a computer simulation of a building. Spatial knowledge for these targets was assessed in the physical building. Results indicate that both the type of training display and spatial ability predicted performance level and that the utility of the composite display was a function of spatial ability and task. For distance estimation, the map-only view was the most accurate. For directional estimation, participants with high spatial ability were the most accurate regardless of their display condition. For route learning, spatial ability facilitated performance with only the map view. While route training using the composite view mimicked the advantages of the two other displays, it did not reproduce the deleterious effects also observed. Success in navigational learning from the simulated environments depended on a complex interaction between spatial ability, navigational task, and type of training display.