Evaluating the effect of tangible virtual reality on spatial perspective taking ability

Chang, Jack S. K.; Yeboah, Georgina; Doucette, Alison; Clifton, Paul; Nitsche, Michael; Welsh, Timothy N.; Mazalek, Ali

doi:10.1145/3131277.3132171

Cited by 46 publications

(16 citation statements)

References 32 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…The game described herein is part of a research program called Tangibles for Augmenting Spatial Cognition (TASC), which aims to develop and study virtual game environments that employ tangible and embodied interaction in the context of solving spatial puzzles. The TASC team has examined various interactive methods for engaging distinct spatial skills, including mental rotation, perspective taking, and penetrative thinking (Mazalek et al, 2010;Chang et al, 2017aChang et al, , 2019. In previous TASC research, head-tracking, hand-tracking, tactile feedback, and a tangible interface were integrated in a custom VR environment that required users to solve spatial puzzles.…”

Section: Tangibles For Augmenting Spatial Cognitionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…To address this set of challenges, our research group designed and implemented several interactive virtual reality environments, driven by tangible interfaces, that provide rich, embodied experiences for users facing complex spatial challenges (Chang et al, 2017a(Chang et al, , 2018(Chang et al, , 2019. The present paper reports on a study designed to assess the efficacy of a novel game that was designed to focus on a specific spatial ability known as penetrative thinking, which is the ability to visualize and understand the internal structure of a 3D object based on its external form (Kali and Orion, 1996).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Thinking Through the Box: Evaluating a 3D Game to Engage Penetrative Thinking

Pathak

Chang

Resch

et al. 2020

Front. Virtual Real.

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Spatial skills allow us to mentally imagine and manipulate objects and their spatial relations. These skills are crucial in both every day and expert tasks. The present paper reports on an evaluation of a 3D game developed to train a specific spatial skill known as penetrative thinking—the ability to imagine cross-sections of 3D objects from their surface features. In the game, users change the location and orientation of a virtual plane to make cuts through 3D objects in a series of spatial puzzles. Users operate an interface to position the virtual plane until a “slice” at the location of the plane matches a target cross-section of a virtual object. Multiple spatial puzzles with different properties are completed throughout the game. In one version of the game, users completed the puzzles in an immersive virtual environment and operated a tangible interface to move the virtual plane. A secondary version of the game required users to view the puzzles in a virtual environment displayed on a computer screen, and to position the slicing plane with a keyboard and mouse. Participants (n = 45) completed a measure of penetrative thinking (Santa Barbara Solids Test) before and after completing one of three interventions: the game with the tangible interface (n = 15), the game with the keyboard interface (n = 15), or a series of (control) questions (n = 15). Although there were no significant pre-/post-intervention changes in penetrative thinking in any of the groups, participants' performance in the game correlated with scores on a standardized test of penetrative thinking. These results provide evidence that the game and the standardized test accessed similar spatial skills and, as a consequence, indicate that the 3D game has the potential to be a valid approach for training penetrative thinking skills.

show abstract

Section: Tangibles For Augmenting Spatial Cognitionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Thinking Through the Box: Evaluating a 3D Game to Engage Penetrative Thinking

Pathak

Chang

Resch

et al. 2020

Front. Virtual Real.

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Two recent meta-analyses have estimated the effect size atд = 0.55 [6] andr = 0.18-0.26 [60]. Other studies have focused more on the training effects of these commercial games [18,23,33,50,62,63,65,68] or analyzed new games designed specifically for spatial skill training [17,45,79,82].…”

Section: Spatial Skills and Video Game Playmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…As far as we are aware, there exists only a single study that has done this. Quaiser-Pohl et al looked at the relationship between gender, game genre preferences, and spatial skill among secondary school students in Germany (ages [10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20]. In addition to completing a paper test of spatial skill, students rated how frequently they played each of 8 different video game genres.…”

Section: Spatial Skills and Video Game Playmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…While very little is known empirically about which game features are spatially relevant, some preliminary steps in this direction have been taken by Wauck et al and Xiao et al, who found that performance on first person exploration and 3D object construction tasks within a computer game correlated with spatial skill [77,82]. In addition, Chang et al and Mazalek et al found that a first person exploration VR game with tangibles improved players' spatial skills in the short term [17,45]. Each of these in-game tasks map well to the Adventure and Puzzle genres and demonstrate how a synergy between spatially-relevant features and LSS population preferences might be achieved.…”

Section: Design Recommendationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

A Player-Centric Approach to Designing Spatial Skill Training Games

Wauck

Mekler

2019

Proceedings of the 2019 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Certain video games show promise as tools for training spatial skills, one of the strongest predictors of future success in STEM. However, little is known about the gaming preferences of those who would benefit the most from such interventions: low spatial skill students. To provide guidance on how to design training games for this population, we conducted a survey of 350 participants from three populations: online college-age, students from a low SES high school, and students from a high SES high school. Participants took a timed test of spatial skills and then answered questions about their demographics, gameplay habits, preferences, and motivations. The only predictors of spatial skill were gender and population: female participants from online and low SES high school populations had the lowest spatial skill. In light of these findings, we provide design recommendations for game-based spatial skill interventions targeting low spatial skill students.

show abstract

Systematic review of spatial abilities and virtual reality: The role of interaction

Gittinger,

Wiesche

2023

J of Engineering Edu

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

BackgroundThe importance of spatial abilities for individuals' success in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) domains has been well established. Researchers have also emphasized the need to train engineering students in spatial ability. Although virtual reality (VR) offers prospects for training spatial abilities, research on the design of VR training environments remains incomplete.PurposeThis review aimed to reveal the link between individuals' interactions in a VR environment and their spatial abilities and provide guidance for future research and the design of training settings. We also aimed to support students by aligning their interactions with individuals' spatial abilities or by using interactive VR to foster these abilities to create more equal opportunities in the field of engineering.MethodA systematic review of existing literature was conducted to categorize and discuss recent findings.ResultsThe study found that the reviewed literature (i) mainly considered mental rotation; (ii) showed advantages for high‐spatial‐ability learners and disadvantages for low‐spatial‐ability learners when they use interactive VR; (iii) indicated training possibilities, especially for low‐spatial‐ability learners, when they use interactive VR; and (iv) showed changes in not only interaction but also visualization parameters between experimental and control groups.ConclusionInteractive VR can be used to develop spatial abilities, particularly in low‐ability learners. However, it can also hinder these learners and favor high‐ability learners. Further research focusing on the interactive part of VR and the role of spatial ability is required to support design choices.

show abstract

Evaluating the effect of tangible virtual reality on spatial perspective taking ability

Cited by 46 publications

References 32 publications

Thinking Through the Box: Evaluating a 3D Game to Engage Penetrative Thinking

Thinking Through the Box: Evaluating a 3D Game to Engage Penetrative Thinking

A Player-Centric Approach to Designing Spatial Skill Training Games

Systematic review of spatial abilities and virtual reality: The role of interaction

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About