To download the poster, click here: 

The use of virtual reality (VR) in neuroscience research has grown steadily
alongside wider availability of affordable head-mounted displays. In addition to
benefits such as hightened realism and increased immersive experience, VR can be
easily paired with neuroimaging. Yet, some access barriers related to programming
knowledge and access to resources remain. We introduce MazeBuilder, a stand-
alone open-access tool which allows researchers to easily create virtual
environments and use them for spatial navigation research. In MazeBuilder the
researcher can easily create, store, and present T-junction mazes with pre-designed
trajectories. The environment reproduces the streets of a customizable city-like
environment, that the participant navigates while driving a car. Additional background
visual and/or auditory stimulation can be rendered, thus making it suitable for
multisensory research. MazeBuilder also incorporates a screening workflow to
reduce participant drop-out due to cybersickness. The environments can be rendered
through commercially available VR gear (goggles, steering wheel, pedal) or just on a
computer monitor and keyboard. We demonstrate the software capabilities in two
illustrative experiments with behavioral and EEG data. The first study demonstrates
entrainment, assessed via Steady State Visual Evoked Potentials and Cross
Coherence. The second study examined time-resolved episodes of oscillatory activity
related to relevant navigational variables. The next version of MazeBuilder will
incorporate a free roaming mode, in a grid-like environment, with customizable
landmarks.