Diving into the 4th dimension

Mentored by Leo Blondel, a researcher from CRI, we created a research project to assess how the use of VR headset impact one’s ability to memorize and recall complex 3D shapes. I worked on this project with 2 other students for a whole semester.

Abstract

Thanks to keener microscopy techniques, microscopy data are of increasingly high complexity. Analysis of this data by humans requires sharpened visualization tools. To this end Virtual Reality (VR) could be a tool of interest, as it immerses the user in a virtual environment along with its data.

We conducted an experiment comparing the ability of a user to memorize and recall 3D objects using VR or traditional desktop visualizers we developed. These 3D objects correspond to the shape encapsulating small moving particles.

This process yielded no significant difference between the user’s results and the null distribution. Nonetheless, we observed a significant progression in VR not observed when using the desktop version of our software.

Links

Our poster can be found in pdf format here.

Code and builds for the software used in the experiments, the custom tools we developed to manage participants, code for data analysis, images and documentation (basically everything) are on this github repository.

Our bibliography is available in this zotero library.

Context

This research project is produced as a “SCORE” undergrad research project in the Frontiers of Life Bachelor (Center for Interdisciplinary Research, University of Paris) under supervision by fellow Leo Blondel whom we cannot thank enough for his help and pedagogy.