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Human heading estimation during visually simulated curvilinear motionRecent studies have suggested that humans cannot estimate their direction of forward translation (heading) from the resulting retinal motion (flow field) alone when rotation rates are higher than approximately 1 deg/sec. It has been argued that either oculomotor or static depth cues are necessary to disambiguate the rotational and translational components of the flow field and, thus, to support accurate heading estimation. We have re-examined this issue using visually simulated motion along a curved path towards a layout of random points as the stimulus. Our data show that, in this curvilinear motion paradigm, five of six observers could estimate their heading relatively accurately and precisely (error and uncertainty < approximately 4 deg), even for rotation rates as high as 16 deg/sec, without the benefit of either oculomotor or static depth cues signaling rotation rate. Such performance is inconsistent with models of human self-motion estimation that require rotation information from sources other than the flow field to cancel the rotational flow.
Document ID
20040173009
Acquisition Source
Legacy CDMS
Document Type
Reprint (Version printed in journal)
Authors
Stone, L. S.
(NASA Ames Research Center Moffett Field, CA United States)
Perrone, J. A.
Date Acquired
August 22, 2013
Publication Date
March 1, 1997
Publication Information
Publication: Vision research
Volume: 37
Issue: 5
ISSN: 0042-6989
Subject Category
Life Sciences (General)
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Other
Keywords
NASA Center ARC
NASA Discipline Neuroscience

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