Virtual environment training
The workout was progressive and divided into five sequences. The objective was to teach the subject, in a sequential way, to carry out all four missions constituting the PM task. The final stage of training brought all the missions together, at the same time. Instruction panels were displayed on the path taken by the avatar to provide the necessary indications as they went along. Oral assistance from the experimenter was sometimes necessary to provide clarification on these instructions. During the first sequence, participants learned to use the controllers to move around the city. They could move using a touchpad on the right joystick. The avatar, in the virtual city, followed the real rotational movement of the participant’s body. The participant had also a list of places to reach that he could display in front of him by raising the left joystick to eye level. The list was attached to a virtual watch, indicating the time in the environment in minutes and seconds. On the list, there were different places present in the city in a specific order. The goal was to reach these different places by walking, using the traffic signs to navigate, and to validate each mission on the list (Fig. Virtual watch with the list of items to reach in the city and an example of an orientation sign.