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Adaptive Responses in Eye-Head-Hand Coordination Following Exposures to a Virtual Environment as a Possible Space Flight AnalogVirtual environments (VE) offer unique training opportunities, particularly for training astronauts and preadapting them to the novel sensory conditions of microgravity. Sensorimotor aftereffects of VEs are often quite similar to adaptive sensorimotor responses observed in astronauts during and/or following space flight. The purpose of this research was to compare disturbances in sensorimotor coordination produced by dome virtual environment display and to examine the effects of exposure duration, and repeated exposures to VR systems. The current study examined disturbances in eye-head-hand (EHH) and eye-head coordination. Preliminary results will be presented. Eleven subjects have participated in the study to date. One training session was completed in order to achieve stable performance on the EHH coordination and VE tasks. Three experimental sessions were performed each separated by one day. Subjects performed a navigation and pick and place task in a dome immersive display VE for 30 or 60 min. The subjects were asked to move objects from one set of 15 pedestals to the other set across a virtual square room through a random pathway as quickly and accurately as possible. EHH coordination was measured before, immediately after, and at 1 hr, 2 hr, 4 hr and 6 hr following exposure to VR. EHH coordination was measured as position errors and reaction time in a pointing task that included multiple horizontal and vertical LED targets. Repeated measures ANOVAs were used to analyze the data. In general, we observed significant increases in position errors for both horizontal and vertical targets. The largest decrements were observed immediately following exposure to VR and showed a fairly rapid recovery across test sessions, but not across days. Subjects generally showed faster RTs across days. Individuals recovered from the detrimental effects of exposure to the VE on position errors within 1-2 hours. The fact that subjects did not significantly improve across days suggests that in order to achieve dual adaptation of EHH coordination may require more than three training sessions. These findings provide some direction for developing training schedules for VE users that facilitate adaptation, support the idea that preflight training of astronauts may serve as useful countermeasure for the sensorimotor effects of space flight, and support the idea that VEs may serve as an analog for sensorimotor effects of spaceflight.
Document ID
20070009949
Acquisition Source
Johnson Space Center
Document Type
Conference Paper
Authors
Harm, Deborah L.
(NASA Johnson Space Center Houston, TX, United States)
Taylor, L. C.
(NASA Johnson Space Center Houston, TX, United States)
Bloomberg, J. J.
(NASA Johnson Space Center Houston, TX, United States)
Date Acquired
August 24, 2013
Publication Date
January 1, 2007
Subject Category
Aerospace Medicine
Meeting Information
Meeting: 28th Annual International Gravitational Physiology Conference
Location: San Antonio, TX
Country: United States
Start Date: April 8, 2006
End Date: April 13, 2006
Sponsors: International Society for Gravitational Physiology
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Other

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