Project description

Information for example in museum contexts often is presented in immersive digital environments. The project examines the influence of these rooms on basic cognitive aspects of perception and information processing: Is there a difference in viewing duration or the subjective flow of time in rooms of varying size? And do the rooms influence the processing of information presented in these environments?

Immersive digital environments like Virtual Reality offer the opportunity, for example, to experience actual archaeological excavations or digitalized archaeological sites. The question is how different, immersive rooms influence basic cognitive processes. Former research shows a relationship between room size and subjective flow of time (DeLong, 1981), which is also formulated theoretically (Walsh, 2003). Based on these findings the project examines if the size of digital rooms influences the subjective flow of time and if rooms varying in size have an effect on how long viewers look at information presented in these rooms. Further it will be examined if different layouts of objects in digital rooms and their relation to each other, respectively to the viewer, influence perception, processing and memory of these objects: Does the layout of information in a room, for example, influence categorical grouping? Or does the point of view on a spatial layout become part of the representation?
These research questions are examined in a series of lab experiments using strongly controlled learning material. Additionally, elaborate digital archaeological environments will be used.