Three-dimensional thinking, observation, and practice have long been an important part of architectural education. Reduced awareness of corporeality and the senses can impair a student's capacity to create and develop an architectural environment holistically. Simulation programmes are an important tool to fill this gap, as they can broaden a…

Background: The importance of spatial abilities for individuals' success in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) domains has been well established. Researchers have also emphasized the need to train engineering students in spatial ability. Although virtual reality (VR) offers prospects for training spatial abilities, research…

Spatial navigation relies on extracting environmental information to determine where to go. To support navigation behavior, navigational aids, such as maps, compasses, or global positioning systems (GPSs), offer access to easily extractible information, but do these aids enhance spatial memory? Here, we propose the hypothesis that navigation aids…

Cognitive maps are mental representations of space essential for guiding spatial behavior. To assess the properties of these cognitive maps, sketch mapping has been widely used as a research tool in spatial cognition research. This scoping review aims to provide a comprehensive overview of the methodologies and the cognitive processes concerning…

People navigate in various types of spaces, including indoor and outdoor environments. These differ in availability of navigational cues, such as distal landmarks, clear boundaries, and regular grid structures. Does learning the layout of different types of environments rely on the same or diverse cognitive abilities? Do separate measures of…

In design education, immersive virtual reality (VR) has grown as a visualization and interaction tool. Nonetheless, little research has been done on how individuals self-perception within VR affects their performance. This self-awareness is carried out using avatars that depict the virtual body through multiple points of view. This article…

Mental rotation is the ability to mentally rotate two-dimensional and three-dimensional objects in one's mind. Previous studies have examined the relationship between mental rotation abilities and embodied cognition. However, conflicting findings underscore the necessity for further investigation. This study aims to investigate how different…

When learning an environment from virtual navigation people gain knowledge about landmarks, their locations, and the paths that connect them. The present study newly aimed to investigate all these domains of knowledge and how cognitive factors such as visuospatial abilities and wayfinding inclinations might support virtual passive navigation. A…

Magnitude information, for instance, regarding weight, distance, or velocity, is crucial for planning goal-directed interactions. Accordingly, magnitude information, including numerical magnitude, can affect actions: Responses to small numbers are faster with the left hand than the right and vice versa (hand-based SNARC effect). Previous…

Virtual reality (VR) applications are developing rapidly, becoming more and more affordable, and offer various advantages for learning contexts. Dynamic visualizations are generally suitable for depicting continuous processes (e.g., different movement patterns), and particularly dynamic virtual 3D-objects can provide different perspectives on the…

Recent developments in Augmented Reality (AR) headset technologies have allowed for users to see and manipulate the same 3D hologram at the same time, allowing for collaborative, embodied interactions using gestures and actions. Three-dimensional geometry has traditionally been taught largely through 2D projections of 3D figures on pages or…

Learning cardiac morphology largely involves spatial abilities and studies indicate benefits from innovative 3D visualization technologies that speed up and increase the learning output. Studies comparing these teaching tools and their educational output are rare and few studies include complex congenital heart defects. This study compared the…

Background: Despite the numerous positive effects of augmented reality (AR) on learning, previous research has shown ambiguous results regarding the cognitive demand on the learner arising from, for example, the overlay of virtual elements or novel interaction techniques. At the same time, the number of evidence-based guidelines on designing AR is…

Extended reality technologies -- mixed, augmented, and virtual reality, and future-related technologies -- are rapidly expanding in many fields, with underexplored potentials for multimodal composition in digital media environments. This research generates new knowledge about the novel wearable technology -- smart glasses -- to support elementary…

Immersive Virtual Environments can provide users with a sense of spatial presence and experience. But learners with Color Vision Deficiency cannot receive information entirely in the environments because they are difficult to distinguish some or all colors. This study selects learners with red-green color blindness as the sample, and designs three…