Data Extraction and Visualization from Three-dimensional Drawings Made in Immersive Virtual Environments

One approach to characterizing human perceptual organization is to distinguish global and local processing. In visual perception, global processing enables us to extract the ‘gist’ of the visual information and local processing helps us to perceive the details. Individual differences in these two types of visual processing have been found in conditions like autism and ADHD. The Rey-Osterrieth Complex Figure (ROCF) test is commonly used to investigate differences between local and global processing. Whilst Virtual Reality (VR) has become more accessible, cheaper, and widely used in psychological research, no previous study has investigated local vs global perceptual differences using immersive technology. In this study, we investigated individual differences in local and global processing as a function of autistic and ADHD traits. The ROCF was presented in the virtual environment and a standard protocol for using the figure was followed. A novel method of quantitative data extraction was used, which will be described in this paper in greater detail. Whilst some performance differences were found between experimental conditions, no relationship was observed between these differences and participants’ levels of autistic and ADHD traits. Limitations of the study and implications of the novel methodology are discussed.