Researchers at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) leverage VR technology to understand better how the brain creates our perception of space. To help with this the use of immersive technology is allowing researchers to build better understands and data samples. Human brains are able to process data at a faster rate than that of any super computer, rapidly constructing mental maps based on sensory inputs. This spatial memory is one of the first functions to deteriorate due to several neurological conditions including epilepsy and Alzhelmer’s disease. If scientists better understand how the hippocampus perceives space and time, they could have better diagnoses and treatment. To resolve this question, UCLA neurophysicist Mayank Mehta concluded, one would need to tease apart the different sensory stimuli that constitute space-time. This is impossible to do in the real world, but it can be accomplished readily in the virtual world.
Video: https://youtu.be/3ZR2op1vm5I
Source: http://newsroom.ucla.edu/stories/ucla-researcher-uses-virtual-reality-to-understand-how-animals-perceive-space
