Visual Variables in Physical Environments and Virtual Environments: An Experiment

This study compares aspects of spatial perception in a physical environment and its virtual representations in a CAVE and Panorama, based on the author?s recent empirical research. Participants in an experiment were shown objects identically placed in the virtual and physical environments, then to locate them and identify their shape on scaled drawings.  Results are presented together with statistical analysis. In a discussion of the results, the paper addresses the assertions that depth perception in physical reality and its virtual representations in CAVE and Panorama are quantifiably different; that differences are attributable to prior contextual experience and spatial ability of the viewer; and that general attributes of virtual environments may be drawn from the experiments findings. The paper discusses implications of spatial ability for virtual environments in architectural education and participatory design processes, in which the dialogue between real and imagined space takes place.