Tracking with a restricted field of view: performance and eye-head coordination aspects.
Vision through a restricted field of view (RFOV) is becoming increasingly common in aviation with the use of helmet mounted displays. Our first experiment investigated the influence of a narrow (20 degrees) binocular RFOV on performance during head-free visuo-manual tracking of a wide range (+/- 85 degrees) horizontally moving target. Second, the effects of two levels of RFOV (20 degrees, 70 degrees) on a similar tracking task presented with various eccentricities were compared to full field of view (FOV). Eye and head movement around the yaw axis were recorded and analyzed versus head-free visual pursuit alone. Tracking performance appeared moderately impaired when RFOV was set to 20 degrees, but did not improve with a 70 degrees field. Discomfort due to unusually large head movements was ruled out as a causal factor. Visuo-manual tracking apparently implies a need for head stability. RFOV degrades this basic requirement which, in turn, could explain performance impairment. Analysis of eye-head coordination characteristics following FOV task conditions supports this hypothesis.
Sandor
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PB
Centre d'Essais en Vol, Laboratoire de Medecine Aerospatiale, Bretigny Sur Orge, France.
Leger
A
A
D000328:Adult; D003626:Data Display; D004585:Electrooculography; D005133:Eye Movements / Q000502:physiology*; D005139:Eyeglasses; D005260:Female; D006257:Head / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009068:Movement; D009799:Ocular Physiological Phenomena; D011597:Psychomotor Performance / Q000502:physiology*; D011698:Pursuit, Smooth / Q000502:physiology; D014785:Vision, Ocular / Q000502:physiology; D014794:Visual Fields / Q000502:physiology*