Through technological advancements, the use of virtual environments (VE) in education and training has increased. One challenge that users face is the task of navigation in virtual environments. This research investigates navigation within a virtual environment and how users utilize different navigational tools. Navigational tools are categorized as either active or passive, based on the type of information that they present. The goal of this study was to determine if there are differences in the ways that users use passive and active navigational tools. This study was conducted by collecting eye fixations and fixation durations while participants used a navigation tool in completing a task in a VE. Results revealed no significant difference between percentage of fixations and fixation durations and future research should investigate the comparison of active and passive navigational tools in more complex virtual environments.
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