Lily Turkstra¹, Apurv Varshney¹, Jiaxin Su¹, Scott Grafton¹, Barry Giesbrecht¹, Mary Hegarty¹, Michael Beyeler¹; ¹University of California, Santa Barbara

Interest in integrated augmented and virtual reality (AR and VR) systems is increasing as research expands our understanding of its ability to optimize information intake and its potential to increase efficiency and safety. Visual augmentations like minimaps, in-world arrows, and compasses are widely used in AR and VR to aid in navigation tasks, but their effectiveness under high-stress scenarios remains unexplored. Stress may impair navigation by increasing cognitive load and reducing the ability to notice shortcuts and maintain necessary situational awareness. This study aims to evaluate the efficacy of these established augmentations in high-stress conditions to understand their impact on wayfinding performance and cognitive processing. We used immersive virtual reality (VR) to create a fully customizable virtual environment in order to simulate AR augmentations under controlled conditions. Participants first learned a maze by following a fixed route with visual landmarks. They then navigated the same maze under non-stress and high-stress conditions, using either a minimap, an in-world arrow, a compass, or no augmentations. High-stress scenarios included blocked paths, frightening audio cues, and a time-limited countdown. Navigation performance was assessed via direct measurements of success and efficiency. Supplementally, use of eye-tracking data to measure attention to augmentations, alongside individual differences in spatial understanding and visual attention, NASA-TLX cognitive load surveys, and qualitative feedback were gathered to assess attention and usability. Results indicate that specific augmentations, such as the compass, mitigated stress-induced navigation impairments. Others, like the minimap, increased cognitive load and hindered performance, possibly due to attentional overload. Performance improvements were often consistent with participants’ preferred augmentations and perceived reductions in workload, though they did not always correlate with lower stress levels or greater precision. This work contributes to understanding how visual aids can be optimized to support navigation under pressure, offering insights for improving integrated VR and AR-based navigation tools.

Acknowledgements: Research was sponsored by the U.S. Army Research Office and accomplished under contract W911NF-19-D-0001 for the Institute for Collaborative Biotechnologies.