Virtual-reality-Based 3D navigation training for emergency egress from spacecraft.
BACKGROUND
Astronauts have reported spatial disorientation and navigation problems inside spacecraft whose interior visual vertical direction varies from module to module. If they had relevant preflight practice they might orient better. This experiment examined the influence of relative body orientation and individual spatial skills during VR training on a simulated emergency egress task.


METHODS
During training, 36 subjects were each led on 12 tours through a space station by a virtual tour guide. Subjects wore a head-mounted display and controlled their motion with a game-pad. Each tour traversed multiple modules and involved up to three changes in visual vertical direction. Each subject was assigned to one of three groups that maintained different postures: visually upright relative to the "local" module; constant orientation relative to the "station" irrespective of local visual vertical; and "mixed" (local, followed by station orientation). Groups were balanced on the basis of mental rotation and perspective-taking test scores. Subjects then performed 24 emergency egress testing trials without the tour guide. Smoke reduced visibility during the last 12 trials. Egress time, sense of direction (by pointing to origin and destination) and configuration knowledge were measured.


RESULTS
Both individual 3D spatial abilities and orientation during training influence emergency egress performance, pointing, and configuration knowledge. Local training facilitates landmark and route learning, but station training enhances sense of direction relative to station, and, therefore, performance in low visibility.


CONCLUSIONS
We recommend a sequence of local, followed by station, and then randomized orientation training, preferably customized to a trainee's 3D spatial ability.
Aoki
Hirofumi
H
Man-Vehicle Laboratory, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Room 37-219, 77 Massachusetts Ave., Cambridge, MA 02139, USA. haoki@mit.edu
Oman
Charles M
CM
Natapoff
Alan
A
D000328:Adult; D004630:Emergencies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D021621:Imaging, Three-Dimensional; D016014:Linear Models; D008297:Male; D009949:Orientation; D012399:Rotation; D013026:Space Flight; D013028:Space Perception; D018561:Space Simulation; D013663:Teaching; D014584:User-Computer Interface; D014794:Visual Fields