Virtual Reality in Rehabilitation; An Aid To Spatial Learning? A Comparison of Active and Passive Virtual Reality Interaction

Abstract

Following a review of the potential uses of virtual reality in the rehabilitation of disabilities, the introduction then focuses on the uses of virtual reality in the rehabilitation of spatial skills. The study examines spatial memory and object-recognition for two groups of participants. One group actively navigated, while the other group passively watched, a journey through a virtual environment. It was hypothesized that spatial memory scores would be higher for active participants, and that object memory scores would be higher for passive participants. The first hypothesis was supported, but not the second. These findings are discussed in terms of potential methodological shortcomings of the study, possible problems with virtual reality, and the need to find solutions to these problems.