The Effect of Cognitive Load on Visual Search Tasks in Multisensory Immersive Environments

Cognitive load, the mental effort required to process information and perform tasks, affects user performance and engagement. Understanding its impact in immersive, multisensory experiences is critical for task-oriented applications like training and education. We studied the effect of cognitive load on user performance on a visual search task, performed on its own or alongside a secondary, auditory task. This effect was tested for two different search areas: 90° and 360°. Results show a decline of task performance with increased cognitive load, but with different trends between the 90° and 360° cases.