AUTHOR=McLaren Ruth , Chaudhary Shikha , Rashid Usman , Ravindran Shobika , Taylor Denise 

TITLE=Reliability of the triangle completion test in the real-world and in virtual reality

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Human Neuroscience

VOLUME=16

YEAR=2022

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/human-neuroscience/articles/10.3389/fnhum.2022.945953

DOI=10.3389/fnhum.2022.945953

ISSN=1662-5161

ABSTRACT=<sec><title>Background</title><p>The triangle completion test has been used to assess egocentric wayfinding for decades, yet there is little information on its reliability. We developed a virtual reality (VR) based test and investigated whether either test of spatial navigation was reliable.</p></sec><sec><title>Objective</title><p>To examine test-retest reliability of the real-world and VR triangle completion tests. A secondary objective was to examine the usability of the VR based test.</p></sec><sec><title>Materials and methods</title><p>Thirty healthy adults aged 18–45 years were recruited to this block randomized study. Participants completed two sessions of triangle completion tests in the real-world and VR on the same day with a break between sessions.</p></sec><sec><title>Results</title><p>In both test versions distance from the endpoint and angle of deviation showed poor test-retest reliability (r &lt; 0.5). Distance traveled had moderate reliability in both the real-world and VR tests (<italic>r</italic> = 0.55 95% CI [0.23, 0.76]; <italic>r</italic> = 0.66 95% CI [0.4, 0.83, respectively]). The VR triangle test showed poor correlation with the real-world test.</p></sec><sec><title>Conclusion</title><p>The triangle completion test has poor test-retest reliability and demonstrates poor concurrent validity between the real-world and VR. Nevertheless, it was feasible to translate a real-world test of spatial navigation into VR. VR provides opportunities for development of clinically relevant spatial navigation tests in the future.</p></sec>