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One thing I don't see mentioned as a hypothesis for a factor in a good sense of direction is inner-ear ability (directional proprioception). A few years ago I

One thing I don't see mentioned as a hypothesis for a factor in a good sense of direction is inner-ear ability (directional proprioception). A few years ago I met Buzz Aldrin at a NASA conference, and he told me that he thought that people with a poor innate direction sense make good astronauts, because having good directional proprioception tends to lead to serious spacesickness. The UCL game study would miss this because people can't use bodily cues when navigating online. VR sickness is quite related to this. Anecdotally, my mother had a balance disorder, and could get lost very quickly in even familiar surroundings, while I get motion sick quite easily but have very good direction sense.

SkyPuncher 3y ago
This is really interesting. I have amazing directional awareness in real life, but the literal worse in video games.
- quickslowdown 3y ago
  Same, my friends get frustrated playing Minecraft or other large open world games with me because I'm constantly lost. We walk 30 seconds or so away from the base and suddenly I'm turned around and have no concept whatsoever of which direction I came from or how to get back. Which just doesn't happen to me in real life
  - hobs 3y ago
    It's definitely a skill different to the physical one though, and one that needs plenty of practice - mapping your virtual world and keeping a running tally of all the objects and things you literally cant see except through a tiny box is not something that comes naturally to most.
  - chasd00 3y ago
    Heh my kids ever so gently asked me to stop gaming with them because I was perpetually lost in open world games or so bad in a gun battle i contributed negative value to the team.
  - tstrimple 3y ago
    My wife is the same way. She has an almost supernatural ability to determine which direction is north no matter where we are. But she gets lost immediately in game worlds. Even with a minimap and player icons she is constantly getting separated and needs someone to backtrack. I’m the opposite. I can’t tell you which way north is from my own house. It takes me quite a while to get a feel for where things are in relation to each other in the real world. But in game worlds I’m quite comfortable navigating. Even in 3d zero gravity environments like in Shipbreaker where you have to quickly reorient yourself while salvaging the ship and you’ve got to let go of the concept of up and down as absolutes. Of course, never having been to space, I have no idea if it would translate or if I’d just be a motion sick mess with no frame of reference.
  - Ferret7446 3y ago
    Have you tried playing with higher FOV? Going from almost 180 in real life to <100 in most games makes you lose a lot of visual information you use to orient yourself.
- emmelaich 3y ago
  Zork drove me nuts in this way. I have a good sense of direction and maps but I never put the map of Zork together in my head.
jemmyw 3y ago
I wonder if this applies to me. I never learnt navigation skills but I have a very good sense of direction and I'm also very quick to motion sickness in games and on boats. I actually consider it to be slightly dangerous that I'm over confident about where I am and the direction I'm facing. It has led to be marching down the wrong track, not realising I'm on a parallel path that then sightly deviates.
Red_Leaves_Flyy 3y ago
Counterpoint. I have excellent directional ability whether blind hiking through an untraveled forest, paper maps, or plotting a course. I also do not suffer any form of motion sickness on land sea or in air. Haven’t been to space but would go in exchange for being subject of an experiment so long as I can take pictures and return to earth safely.
zdragnar 3y ago
Here I thought your anecdote was going to end with your mother going to space. As a counter anecdote, I have a good sense of balance and don't get motion sickness, but a good sense of direction. My wife gets motion sickness very easily (she has a hard time being a passenger in a car) but has a terrible sense of direction. The person with the worst sense of direction I know just has ADD (like my wife) but no motion sickness.
kayodelycaon 3y ago
I don’t think it has anything to do with your inner ear. Rather, I think it’s your brain being able to process and visualize input. I have significant issues with my inner ear and yet have an excellent sense of direction. I use a combination of visual, kinesthetic, and touch senses for balance instead of my inner ear. Sound is situationally useful. If I know where the source of sound is in a room physical world, I can use that to estimate my position and direction in that room. Of course, it’s possible there are multiple ways to have a good sense of direction. Mine works like a map. For other people it may just be an intuitive sense using a different type of analysis.

SkyPuncher 3y ago

This is really interesting. I have amazing directional awareness in real life, but the literal worse in video games.

quickslowdown 3y ago
Same, my friends get frustrated playing Minecraft or other large open world games with me because I'm constantly lost. We walk 30 seconds or so away from the base and suddenly I'm turned around and have no concept whatsoever of which direction I came from or how to get back. Which just doesn't happen to me in real life
- hobs 3y ago
  It's definitely a skill different to the physical one though, and one that needs plenty of practice - mapping your virtual world and keeping a running tally of all the objects and things you literally cant see except through a tiny box is not something that comes naturally to most.
- chasd00 3y ago
  Heh my kids ever so gently asked me to stop gaming with them because I was perpetually lost in open world games or so bad in a gun battle i contributed negative value to the team.
- tstrimple 3y ago
  My wife is the same way. She has an almost supernatural ability to determine which direction is north no matter where we are. But she gets lost immediately in game worlds. Even with a minimap and player icons she is constantly getting separated and needs someone to backtrack. I’m the opposite. I can’t tell you which way north is from my own house. It takes me quite a while to get a feel for where things are in relation to each other in the real world. But in game worlds I’m quite comfortable navigating. Even in 3d zero gravity environments like in Shipbreaker where you have to quickly reorient yourself while salvaging the ship and you’ve got to let go of the concept of up and down as absolutes. Of course, never having been to space, I have no idea if it would translate or if I’d just be a motion sick mess with no frame of reference.
- Ferret7446 3y ago
  Have you tried playing with higher FOV? Going from almost 180 in real life to <100 in most games makes you lose a lot of visual information you use to orient yourself.
emmelaich 3y ago
Zork drove me nuts in this way. I have a good sense of direction and maps but I never put the map of Zork together in my head.

jemmyw 3y ago

I wonder if this applies to me. I never learnt navigation skills but I have a very good sense of direction and I'm also very quick to motion sickness in games and on boats. I actually consider it to be slightly dangerous that I'm over confident about where I am and the direction I'm facing. It has led to be marching down the wrong track, not realising I'm on a parallel path that then sightly deviates.

Red_Leaves_Flyy 3y ago

Counterpoint. I have excellent directional ability whether blind hiking through an untraveled forest, paper maps, or plotting a course. I also do not suffer any form of motion sickness on land sea or in air. Haven’t been to space but would go in exchange for being subject of an experiment so long as I can take pictures and return to earth safely.

zdragnar 3y ago

Here I thought your anecdote was going to end with your mother going to space. As a counter anecdote, I have a good sense of balance and don't get motion sickness, but a good sense of direction. My wife gets motion sickness very easily (she has a hard time being a passenger in a car) but has a terrible sense of direction. The person with the worst sense of direction I know just has ADD (like my wife) but no motion sickness.

kayodelycaon 3y ago

I don’t think it has anything to do with your inner ear. Rather, I think it’s your brain being able to process and visualize input. I have significant issues with my inner ear and yet have an excellent sense of direction. I use a combination of visual, kinesthetic, and touch senses for balance instead of my inner ear. Sound is situationally useful. If I know where the source of sound is in a room physical world, I can use that to estimate my position and direction in that room. Of course, it’s possible there are multiple ways to have a good sense of direction. Mine works like a map. For other people it may just be an intuitive sense using a different type of analysis.