Landmarks: A solution for spatial navigation and memory experiments in virtual reality
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Landmarks: A solution for spatial navigation and memory experiments in virtual reality Michael J. Starrett 1 & Andrew S. McAvan 1 & Derek J. Huffman 2 & Jared D. Stokes 3,4 & Colin T. Kyle 3 & Dana N. Smuda 3 & Branden S. Kolarik 3 & Jason Laczko 5 & Arne D. Ekstrom 6 Accepted: 4 September 2020 # The Author(s) 2020
Abstract Research into the behavioral and neural correlates of spatial cognition and navigation has benefited greatly from recent advances in virtual reality (VR) technology. Devices such as head-mounted displays (HMDs) and omnidirectional treadmills provide research participants with access to a more complete range of body-based cues, which facilitate the naturalistic study of learning and memory in three-dimensional (3D) spaces. One limitation to using these technologies for research applications is that they almost ubiquitously require integration with video game development platforms, also known as game engines. While powerful, game engines do not provide an intrinsic framework for experimental design and require at least a working proficiency with the software and any associated programming languages or integrated development environments (IDEs). Here, we present a new asset package, called Landmarks, for designing and building 3D navigation experiments in the Unity game engine. Landmarks combines the ease of building drag-and-drop experiments using no code, with the flexibility of allowing users to modify existing aspects, create new content, and even contribute their work to the open-source repository via GitHub, if they so choose. Landmarks is actively maintained and is supplemented by a wiki with resources for users including links, tutorials, videos, and more. We compare several alternatives to Landmarks for building navigation experiments and 3D experiments more generally, provide an overview of the package and its structure in the context of the Unity game engine, and discuss benefits relating to the ongoing and future development of Landmarks. Keywords Spatial cognition . Navigation . Learning . Memory . Virtual reality . Unity
One challenge in studying naturalistic behaviors, such as navigation, in the laboratory involves the three-dimensional (3D) nature of such behaviors. There are many solutions for Colin T. Kyle is now in the private sector; Dana N. Smuda is now in the private sector; Branden S. Kolarik is now in the private sector. * Michael J. Starrett [email protected] 1
Department of Psychology, University of Arizona, 1503 E. University Blvd, Tucson, AZ 85721, USA
2
Department of Psychology, Colby College, Waterville, ME, USA
3
Department of Psychology and Center for Neuroscience, University of California, Davis, CA, USA
4
Present address: Center for Mind and Brain and MIND Institute, University of California, Davis, CA, USA
5
BrickOvenGames, Sunnyvale, CA, USA
6
Department of Psychology; Evelyn F. McKnight Brain Institute, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, USA
designing two-dimensional (2D) vision-based experiments, such as Psychophysics Toolbox (Brainard, 1997),
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