The Role of Immersivity in Three-Dimensional Mental Rotation

Recently, more realistic 3D displays have been designed as new, more ecologically valid alternatives to conventional 2D visual displays. However, research has thus far provided inconsistent evidence regarding their effectiveness in promoting learning and task performance. We are interested in the contribution of immersion to 3D image transformations and compare subjects' performance on mental rotation tasks in traditional 2D, 3D non-immersive (3DNI - anaglyphic glasses), and 3D-immersive (3DI - head mounted display with position tracking) environments. Our findings suggest that 2D and 3DNI environments might encourage the use of more “artificial” encoding strategies where the 3D images are encoded with respect to a scene-based frame of reference (i.e. computer screen). On the other hand, 3D immersive environments can provide necessary feedback for an individual to use the same strategy and egocentric frame of reference that he/she would use in a real-world situation. Overall, the results of this study suggest that immersion might be one of the most important aspects to be considered in the design of learning and training environments.