Stereopsis, Visuospatial Ability, and Virtual Reality in Anatomy Learning

Abstract

A new wave of virtual reality headsets has become available. A potential benefit for the study of human anatomy is the reintroduction of stereopsis and absolute size. We report a randomized controlled trial to assess the contribution of stereopsis to anatomy learning, for students of different visuospatial ability. Sixty-three participants engaged in a one-hour session including a study phase and posttest. One group studied 3D models of the anatomy of the deep neck in full stereoptic virtual reality; one group studied those structures in virtual reality without stereoptic depth. The control group experienced an unrelated virtual reality environment. A post hoc questionnaire explored cognitive load and problem solving strategies of the participants. We found no effect of condition on learning. Visuospatial ability however did impact correct answers at F(1) = 5.63 and p = .02. No evidence was found for an impact of cognitive load on performance. Possibly, participants were able to solve the posttest items based on visuospatial information contained in the test items themselves. Additionally, the virtual anatomy may have been complex enough to discourage memory based strategies. It is important to control the amount of visuospatial information present in test items.

Figure 1

Oculus Rift SDK 2. The virtual learning environment used in this study was developed for this head-mounted display.

Figure 2

View of the learning environment the participants interacted with during the study phase. In this screenshot the 3D anatomy looks a bit small. This is caused by the relatively large screen area reserved within the Oculus Rift for peripheral vision and does not correspond to the user experience.

Figure 3

Four example questions of the posttest. The participants were instructed to click the horizontal line over the left-hand picture corresponding to the cross section shown on the right.