Active exploration of a virtual environment does not promote orientation or memory for objects

Active participants explored a desktop three-dimensional computer-simulated environment, whereas observer participants passively watched the screen. The ostensible task for all participants was to remember as many objects as possible that were encountered during the course of exploration. In a test, all participants were asked to indicate the direction of test locations from a position where these were not directly visible. Contrary to the hypothesis of superior orientation performance in the active group, the error scores for the two groups were found to be statistically equivalent. There were no significant differences between the scores of the active and passive groups on three tests of memory for objects. The results suggest that the failure to find a beneficial effect on orientation of active exploration in a virtual environment is not due to high levels of attention to the spatial aspect of the task in the passive condition.