Research
We study navigation in the real world and in mixed realities (MR) to examine both spatial cognitive processes and to inform the design of these technologies.
Creem-Regehr, S.H., Kelly, J. W., Bodenheimer, B., & Stefanucci, J.K. (2024). Virtual Reality as a Tool to Understand Spatial Navigation. Encyclopedia of the Human Brain, 2nd Edition. Reference Module in Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Psychology, https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-820480-1.00011-5
Ruginski, I., Creem-Regehr, S. H., Stefanucci, J. K., & Cashdan, E. (2019). GPS use negatively affects visual environmental learning through spatial transformation abilities. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 64, 12-20.
Gagnon, K. T., Thomas, B., Munion, A., Creem-Regehr, S. H., & Cashdan, E., & Stefanucci, J. K. (2018). Not all who wander are lost: Characterizing sex differences in spatial exploration and their relationship to navigation ability. Cognition, 180, 108-117.
There are many factors that influence spatial cognition and perception in MR. We are specifically interested in how both gender and age play a role in these differences and how perception and action may differ between age groups ranging from pre-puberty to adulthood.
Barhorst-Cates, E.M., Stoker, J., Stefanucci, J.K., & Creem-Regehr, S. H. (2021). Using Virtual Reality to assess dynamic self-motion and landmark cues for spatial updating in children and adults. Memory & Cognition, 49 (3), 572-585.
Adams, A., Narasimham, G., Rieser, J., Creem-Regehr, S. H., Stefanucci, J. K, Bodenheimer, R. E. (2018). Locomotive Recalibration and Prism Adaptation of Children and Teens in Immersive Virtual Environments. IEEE Transactions on Visualization and Computer Graphics, 24 (4), 1408-1417.
Creem-Regehr, S. H., Stefanucci, J. K., & Thompson, W. B. (2015). Perceiving Scale in Virtual Environments: How theory and application have mutually informed the role of body-based perception. (pp. 195-224). In B. Ross (Ed.). The Psychology of Learning and Motivation, Vol 63. Elsevier.
Head-mounted displays have been around since the 1960’s and technology has vastly improved since then! HMDs have always been designed around limitations and concessions. How much does reducing weight at the expense of visual clarity degrade visual perception? These are the types of questions we ask in this line of research.
Creem-Regehr, S. H., Stefanucci, J. K., & Bodenheimer, B. (2023). Perceiving Distance in Virtual Reality: Theoretical Insights from Contemporary Technologies. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B, 378(1869), 20210456. https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2021.0456
Gagnon, H. C., Zhao, Y., Richardson, M., Pointon, G., Stefanucci, J.K, Creem-Regehr, S. H., & Bodenheimer, B. (2021). Gap affordance judgments in mixed reality: Testing the role of display weight and field of view. Frontiers in Virtual Reality, 2, 22.
Just as we tend to group categories of words, numbers, and objects together to better remember them, we explore whether and how we group subsections of space within large, complex environments (e.g., metropolitan cities) to better navigate them and remember their layout.
We study how low vision affects space perception and navigation ability both in real environments as well as in simulated low vision conditions in virtual reality.
Creem-Regehr, S. H., Barhorst-Cates, E.M., Tarampi, M. R., Rand, K. M. & Legge, G. (2021). How can basic research on spatial cognition enhance the visual accessibility of architecture for people with low vision?Cognitive Research: Principles and Implications, 6(1), 1-18.
Our brains try to make use of all of our senses to navigate. We are trying to uncover how our brains integrate our senses, particularly in conditions of sensory impairment or concussion.
Shayman, C.S., McCracken, M.K,, Finney, H.C., Katsanevas, A.M., Fino, P.C., Stefanucci, J.K., & Creem-Regehr, S.H. (2024). Effects of older age on visual and self-motion sensory cue integration in navigation. Experimental Brain Research.
We use simulated AR in VR to study how we can cue safety information while individuals navigate in high-stress scenarios.
Gagnon, H., Stefanucci, J.K., Creem-Regehr, S. H., Bodenheimer, B. (2023). Calibrated passability in virtual reality transfer to augmented reality. In ACM Transactions on Applied Perception, 20(4), 1-16.
Zhao, Y., Stefanucci, J.K., Creem-Regehr, S.H., & Bodenheimer, B. (2023). Evaluating augmented reality landmark cues and frame of reference displays with virtual reality. IEEE Transactions on Visualization and Computer Graphics, 29 (5), 2710-2720.
Perception is malleable and can be influenced by a myriad of bodily and emotional factors. Our lab studies how factors such as emotional state or being in a state of pain can impact how people perceive the (real or virtual) space around them and their ability to act within that space.
Stefanucci, J. K. (2010). Emotional high: Emotion and the perception of spatial layout. Social psychology of visual perception, 273-297.
We study how low vision affects space perception and navigation ability both in real environments as well as in simulated low vision conditions in virtual reality.
Whitaker, M. M., Hansen, R. C., Creem-Regehr, S. H., & Stefanucci, J. K. (2022). The relationship between space and time perception: A registered replication of Casasanto and Boroditsky (2008). Attention, Perception, & Psychophysics, 1-5.
What makes spaces feel really big? We do not know what physical features are common to spaces that seem vast, and why or how consistently they induce the experience of awe, which many claim that they do. We are systematically exploring the visual, temporal, and emotional correlates to vastness.
Klatzky, R. L., Thompson, W. B., Stefanucci, J. K., Gill, D., & McGee, D. K. (2017). The perceptual basis of vast space. Psychonomic Bulletin & Review, 24, 1870-1878.
Radiologists develop incredible perceptual expertise for searching for anomalies across images. The implementation of new scanning technologies now allows for searching these images in 3D; however, little (if any) perceptual training is provided to develop search processes for 3D imagery. This project implements a new training procedure in 3D using virtual reality and Multitom Rax imagery.
Ivy, S., Rohovit, T., Lavelle, M., Padilla, L., Stefanucci, J., Stokes, D., & Drew, T. (2021). Through the eyes of the expert: Evaluating holistic processing in architects through gaze-contingent viewing. Psychonomic Bulletin & Review, 28(3), 870-878.
Perceptual and affective processes are complex and can vary over time. Our lab frequently collaborates with quantitative methodologists to employ and develop statistical techniques to better understand how we perceive and interact with the world around us.
Whitaker, M. M., Odell, D., Deboeck, P. R., Stefanucci, J. K., & Okifuji, A. (2024). Increased Pain Variability in Patients With Chronic Pain: A Role for Pain Catastrophizing. The Journal of Pain.