Developing a Replication of a Wayfinding Study. From a Large-Scale Real Building to a Virtual Reality Simulation

Abstract

Developing virtual reality (VR) simulations for replication of real-world studies in spatial cognition research is a tedious process, as numerous processes must be considered to achieve correspondence. In this chapter, we describe the development of a virtual model for a replication of a real-world study in the Seattle Central Library. The aim is to pragmatically report challenges and solutions in translating real-world conditions of complex and large-scale buildings into virtual reality simulations. For this aim, the chapter focuses on three steps for development: modelling the virtual environment, optimizing the performance, and designing the human-environment interaction.