title: Bias to experience approaching motion in a three-dimensional virtual environment.
abstract: We used two-frame apparent motion in a three-dimensional virtual environment to test whether observers had biases to experience approaching or receding motion in depth. Observers viewed a tunnel of tiles receding in depth, that moved ambiguously either toward or away from them. We found that observers exhibited biases to experience approaching motion. The strengths of the biases were decreased when stimuli pointed away, but size of the display screen had no effect. Tests with diamond-shaped tiles that varied in the degree of pointing asymmetry resulted in a linear trend in which the bias was strongest for stimuli pointing toward the viewer, and weakest for stimuli pointing away. We show that the overall bias to experience approaching motion is consistent with a computational strategy of matching corresponding features between adjacent foreshortened stimuli in consecutive visual frames. We conclude that there are both adaptational and geometric reasons to favor the experience of approaching motion.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Kent State University, PO Box 5190, Kent, OH 44242-0001, USA. cfl@alumni.cwru.edu
authors.forename: Clifford F
authors.initials: CF
authors.lastname: Lewis
authors.forename: Michael K
authors.initials: MK
authors.lastname: McBeath
mesh_terms: D000222:Adaptation, Physiological; D003867:Depth Perception / Q000502:physiology; D004215:Distance Perception / Q000502:physiology; D005260:Female; D005556:Form Perception / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009039:Motion Perception / Q000502:physiology*; D010775:Photic Stimulation; D011601:Psychophysics; D014584:User-Computer Interface; D015348:Vision, Binocular / Q000502:physiology