The subjects were given 20 minutes to familiarize themselves with the virtual reality town. They were then given 30 minutes to find at least three pre-determined locations. The researchers found that there was indeed a substantial difference in the amount of success in navigating the town between the healthy and depressed subjects. The healthy subjects found an average of 3.8 locations and the depressed subjects found an average of 2.4 locations.

On its own, this test is not particularly useful as a tool in diagnosing depression. But as a potential method of measuring the level of depression in someone who already has been diagnosed, it is definitely interesting. And speaking as someone who has gone through neuropsychological testing (to establish a baseline for my Multiple Sclerosis, not depression) it sounds like it would be a lot more fun.