Research questions
Westerman and Cribbin (2000) designed a virtual information space that could be searched using either a 2D or 3D format. In this virtual interface, the spatial location of the informational nodes (documents) is determined by the semantic content. Westerman and Cribbin (2000) found that when they used the Paper Folding Test (VZ2) and Object-Number Test (MA2) to measure the cognitive abilities of users, the benefits of the additional information conveyed by a 3D environment did not outweigh the associated additional cognitive demands. Westerman et al. (2005) found that participants adopted distinct strategies when they tried to identify documents relevant to a specified topic while operating in a virtual information space; the strategy
applied in a 2D environment is comprised of an “exhaustive” approach, while the 3D
environment inspires a more “focused” approach.