Does 360-degree virtual reality improve memory testing?
Viewing a virtual environment through an immersive headset helped participants recognize objects better after a short delay compared to using a tablet.
Source
Immersive Versus Non-immersive Experience: Exploring the Feasibility of Memory Assessment Through 360° Technology
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Does 360-degree virtual reality improve memory testing?
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42 participants recruited for the study
A total of 42 participants were recruited from students and faculty at the University of Valencia.
50 seconds of viewing time per image
During the encoding phase, participants first viewed Picture A or B, depending on the condition they were assigned, for 50 s, then completed the free recall task.
What they did
To test this, researchers recruited 42 university students and staff. Participants viewed virtual images of bedrooms on either an immersive head-mounted display or a non-immersive tablet screen. The encoding phase lasted 50 seconds per image, followed by immediate recall tests and a recognition test after a 10-minute delay.
What they found
There was no significant difference in immediate recall between the immersive and non-immersive groups. However, after the 10-minute delay, participants who used the immersive headset performed significantly better on the target object recognition task than those using the tablet.
The limits
What it doesn't show
The study utilized a small sample of 42 healthy participants, meaning the results may not apply to older populations or individuals with clinical memory impairments. Furthermore, because the researchers did not directly measure feelings of presence, they cannot definitively prove that a sense of presence was the mechanism driving the improved memory performance.
Key terms
- Immersive VR
- A virtual reality experience where a user is fully enclosed in a digital environment, typically via a head-mounted display, creating a strong sense of being physically present there.
- Non-immersive VR
- A virtual reality experience viewed on a flat screen, such as a computer, tablet, or smartphone, where the user remains primarily an external observer of the digital space.
- Spatial presence
- The psychological feeling or subjective experience of being inside a virtual or physical environment.
- Counterbalanced design
- An experimental design where researchers systematically vary the order of conditions across participants to control for practice, fatigue, or carryover effects.
- Free recall
- A memory test where participants are asked to retrieve previously learned items in any order without receiving cues.
- Recognition task
- A memory assessment in which participants identify previously studied items from a list that also contains new, distracting items.
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Common questions
Did the immersive headset make people feel sick?
Yes, participants reported moderate levels of simulator sickness, specifically experiencing some nausea and eye strain while using the virtual reality headset.
Why did the headset only improve recognition memory and not immediate free recall?
Healthy young adults typically find it very easy to remember simple objects immediately. The immersive headset likely helped build a stronger, more robust memory trace over time, which made it easier to recognize those objects after a delay.
What different viewing devices were used in this study?
Participants viewed the immersive environment using a smartphone secured inside a virtual reality head-mounted display, and they viewed the non-immersive environment on a tablet.
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