Brain Activity on Navigation in Virtual Environments

Abstract

This article reports a first attempt to assess the cognitive processing that takes place in virtual environments, by measuring subjects' electrical brain activity using Fast Fourier Transform analysis. The aim of the study was the evaluation of virtual learning environments using the above methodology in addition to the standard methodology of social sciences and educational research, namely quantitative and qualitative empirical research. Twelve university students, undergraduates and postgraduates, were asked to perform the same task in a real and a virtual environment. During the two processes, their brain signals were recorded and analyzed. Eye-movement measurements showed that all the subjects were more attentive when navigating in the virtual world. The difference between alpha and beta rhythms for the virtual task indicated that students placed more attention in the virtual environment and were more responsive to the cognitive stimulation. Lower theta activity in the virtual task demonstrated that all the subjects placed less mental effort in the virtual task signifying that virtual reality provides environments suitable for knowledge transfer. These results show that virtual reality may provide educational environments for students to concentrate, perceive, and judge, and give us indications that there is a need of training of the users of virtual worlds.