ABSTRACT
Disorientation has many costs, it can lead to physical fatigue, stress, anxiety, frustration and all of them threaten the well-being, limit mobility and can also place the people's safety at risk. In this context, this pilot study was focused in the environment's cues, mainly in guidance systems. Its main objectives are: i) verify the use of Virtual Reality (VR) and immersive environment interaction for data collection related to the Human performance in wayfinding tasks (finding a destination within a building), ii) validate the use of the Ergo VR System for wayfinding studies purpose and iii) evaluate the sense of presence reported by users after the interaction with the virtual environment. Ergo VR System proved to be effective in the register of relevant variables for assessing the performance of Human W ayfinding. Preliminary data suggest also that the performance in accomplishing orientation and navigation task within a building is affected by the existence of a guidance system and that, when using the horizontal guidance system, the participants walked shorter distances to reach their destination.
