Immersive ars memoria: Evaluating the usefulness of a virtual memory palace

Abstract

The Method of Loci (also memory palace) is the most powerful mnemonic strategy and was widely analyzed over the last twenty years. Especially, the approach to combine this ancient learning method with modern technology got more and more into the focus of an interdisciplinary research community. Researchers presented their students virtual environments via computer screen or head-mounted displays and instructed them to use these virtual worlds as a template for a memory palace. However, most studies did not investigate the users' attitude to actually use such a tool in everyday situations. This study addresses this research gap by an experiment and a correlation and regression analysis. Results show significant correlations between the learning success and important factors of the users intention to use a virtual memory palace.