NYC: An Indian-origin researcher said that Virtual reality (VR) can help people to recall information on a much better way as it’s on desktop pcs. He added VR isn’t limited to gaming or entertainment.
Recently, a team from the University of Maryland studied an in-depth analysis on whether people learn better through Virtual reality, immersive environment as opposed to traditional systems like a computer or a tablet pc.
The analysis report is really impressive, the researched team found that people remember information better if it is delivered to them on a virtual reality platform.
Virtual Reality – University of Maryland survey
In a survey published in the Virtual Reality Journal, Amitabh Varshney a Professor of Computer Science, said survey data are exciting. He added by saying ‘The immersive environments could offer new horizons for improved results in education and high-proficiency training’. Professor Amitabh leads several major research efforts involving virtual and augmented reality (AR) including healthcare professionals interested in developing AR-based advanced diagnostic tools for emergency medicine and VR training for surgical residents.
The research team has used the concept of a “Memory Palace” for the study, where people recall any object or item by placing it in an imaginary physical location like a building or town. This method of ‘recall’ has been used since classical times, taking advantage of the human brain’s ability to spatially organize thoughts and memories.
Eric Krokos a doctoral student in computer science and lead author on the paper said, “We humans have always used visual-based methods, which is helpful to us to remember information whether it’s clay tablets, printed text, images or video.”
For the study of the survey, the researchers recruited 40 volunteers unfamiliar with virtual reality and split the participants into two groups — one viewed information first via a VR head-mounted display and then on a desktop and the other group did the opposite.
For the study of the survey, there were two groups of 20 volunteers each, who were unfamiliar with virtual reality, the Group 1 viewed the information via a VR head-mounted display and then on a desktop and the 2nd group did the opposite. By using the VR headsets, the overall recall accuracy improved by 8.8 percent. It showed a significant number though! Most of the participants said the immersive presence while using VR helped them to focus better.
“This leads to the possibility that an immersive virtual environment could enhance learning and recall by leveraging a person’s overall sense of body position, movement, and acceleration,” said Catherine Plaisant, Senior Research Scientist in the University of Maryland Institute for Advanced Computer Studies.
Sr. Research Scientist in the University of Maryland Catherine Plaisant said, “This leads to believe us, it’s a high potential that an immersive virtual environment could enhance and recall by leveraging a person’s total sense of body movement, position, and acceleration.” To read the complete information on the UMD website, please click here.
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