NASA Logo

NTRS

NTRS - NASA Technical Reports Server

Back to Results
Accurate Visual Heading Estimation at High Rotation Rate Without Oculomotor or Static-Depth CuesIt has been claimed that either oculomotor or static depth cues provide the signals about self-rotation necessary approx.-1 deg/s. We tested this hypothesis by simulating self-motion along a curved path with the eyes fixed in the head (plus or minus 16 deg/s of rotation). Curvilinear motion offers two advantages: 1) heading remains constant in retinotopic coordinates, and 2) there is no visual-oculomotor conflict (both actual and simulated eye position remain stationary). We simulated 400 ms of rotation combined with 16 m/s of translation at fixed angles with respect to gaze towards two vertical planes of random dots initially 12 and 24 m away, with a field of view of 45 degrees. Four subjects were asked to fixate a central cross and to respond whether they were translating to the left or right of straight-ahead gaze. From the psychometric curves, heading bias (mean) and precision (semi-interquartile) were derived. The mean bias over 2-5 runs was 3.0, 4.0, -2.0, -0.4 deg for the first author and three naive subjects, respectively (positive indicating towards the rotation direction). The mean precision was 2.0, 1.9, 3.1, 1.6 deg. respectively. The ability of observers to make relatively accurate and precise heading judgments, despite the large rotational flow component, refutes the view that extra-flow-field information is necessary for human visual heading estimation at high rotation rates. Our results support models that process combined translational/rotational flow to estimate heading, but should not be construed to suggest that other cues do not play an important role when they are available to the observer.
Document ID
20020034916
Acquisition Source
Headquarters
Document Type
Conference Paper
Authors
Stone, Leland S.
(NASA Ames Research Center Moffett Field, CA United States)
Perrone, John A.
(Waikato Univ. Hamilton, New Zealand)
Null, Cynthia H.
Date Acquired
August 20, 2013
Publication Date
January 1, 1995
Subject Category
Behavioral Sciences
Meeting Information
Meeting: 25th Annual Meeting of Society for Neuroscience
Location: San Diego, CA
Country: United States
Start Date: November 11, 1995
End Date: November 16, 1995
Sponsors: Society for Neuroscience
Funding Number(s)
PROJECT: RTOP 199-16-12-37
CONTRACT_GRANT: NAGW-4127
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Work of the US Gov. Public Use Permitted.

Available Downloads

There are no available downloads for this record.
No Preview Available