Virtual navigation tested on a mobile app is predictive of real-world wayfinding navigation performance

Coutrot, Antoine, Schmidt, Sophie, Coutrot, Lena, Pittman, Jessica, Hong, Lynne, Wiener, Jan, Holscher, Christoph, Dalton, Ruth, Hornberger, Michael and Spiers, Hugo (2019) Virtual navigation tested on a mobile app is predictive of real-world wayfinding navigation performance. PLoS ONE, 14 (3). e0213272. ISSN 1932-6203

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Abstract

Virtual reality environments presented on smart-phone and tablet devices have potential to aid the early diagnosis of conditions such as Alzheimer's dementia by quantifying impairments in navigation performance. However, it is unclear whether performance on mobile devices can predict navigation errors in the real-world. In a preliminary study we tested 30 participants (15 female, 18-30 years old) on their wayfinding ability in our mobile app 'Sea Hero Quest' and on novel real-world wayfinding task in London (UK). We find a significant correlation between virtual and real-world navigation performance and a male advantage on both tasks, although smaller in the real-world environment. These results are consistent with prior studies which have reported navigation in the virtual environments are predictive of real-world navigation performance and a consistent male advantage. Future research will need to test a larger sample size and older participants.

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