title: Visual control of posture in real and virtual environments.
abstract: In two experiments, we investigated the stabilizing influence of vision on human upright posture in real and virtual environments. Visual stabilization was assessed by comparing eyes-open with eyes-closed conditions while subjects attempted to maintain balance in the presence of a stable visual scene. Visual stabilization in the virtual display w as reduced, as compared wit hreal-world viewing. Th is differencewas partially accountedfor by the reduced field of view in the virtual display. When the retinal flow inthe virtual display wasremoved by using dynamic random-dot stereograms with single-frame lifetimes (cyclopean stimuli), vision did notstabilize posture. There was also an overall larger stabilizing influence of vision when more unstable stances were adopted (e.g., one-foot, as compared with side-by-side, stance). Reducing the graphics latency of the virtual display by 63% did not increase visual stabilization in the virtual display. Other visual and psychological differences between real and virtual environments are discussed.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee 37203, USA. jonathan.kelly@vanderbilt.edu
authors.forename: Jonatran W
authors.initials: JW
authors.lastname: Kelly
authors.forename: Bernhard
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Riecke
authors.forename: Jack M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Loomis
authors.forename: Andrew C
authors.initials: AC
authors.lastname: Beall
mesh_terms: D004777:Environment; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D011187:Posture; D014584:User-Computer Interface; D014796:Visual Perception