Direction Judgement Errors in Perspective Displays

Spatial information transfer characteristics of perspective situation displays were investigated by having eight subjects judge the directions of displayed targets relative to a fixed position in the center of computer generated perspective scenes. Their errors in judging azimuth angles varied sinusoidally with the azimuth of the targets. Errors alternated between clockwise and counterclock wise from one direction quadrant to the next. As the perspective geometry was varied between telephoto lens and wide angle lens views, the direction of error gradually reversed in all quadrants. The results can be explained by systematic differences between the three-dimensional stimulus angles and the perspective projections of those angles onto the display screen.