ABSTRACT
In surgical training a lot of effort is directed at developing virtual learning environments (VLE's). These environments usually include one or more of the following features: haptic feedback, the sending of a slightly different computer-generated image to both eyes (affording an user's experience of stereoptical depth), and a transparant interface that allows 'natural' interaction. Now that many of these VLE's are approaching a state of maturity, time has come to start evaluating these environments, as basic questions regarding the effectiveness of the features mentioned above remain unanswered. The purpose of this article is to present an experiment aimed at evaluating the effects of stereopsis during a learning phase on visuo-spatial reasoning in two subsequent tasks that are related to the medical practice of diagnosis.
