title: Vection in depth during consistent and inconsistent multisensory stimulation.
abstract: We examined vection induced during physical or simulated head oscillation along either the horizontal or depth axis. In the first two experiments, during active conditions, subjects viewed radial-flow displays which simulated viewpoint oscillation that was either in-phase or out-of-phase with their own tracked head movements. In passive conditions, stationary subjects viewed playbacks of displays generated in earlier active conditions. A third control, experiment was also conducted where physical and simulated fore-aft oscillation was added to a lamellar flow display. Consistent with ecology, when active in-phase horizontal oscillation was added to a radial-flow display it modestly improved vection compared to active out-of-phase and passive conditions. However, when active fore-aft head movements were added to either a radial-flow or a lamellar-flow display, both in-phase and out-of-phase conditions produced very similar vection. Our research shows that consistent multisensory input can enhance the visual perception of self-motion in some situations. However, it is clear that multisensory stimulation does not have to be consistent (i.e., ecological) to generate compelling vection in depth.
authors.affiliation: School of Psychology, University of Wollongong, Wollongong, NSW 2522, Australia.
authors.forename: April
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ash
authors.forename: Stephen
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Palmisano
authors.forename: Juno
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Kim
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D005133:Eye Movements / Q000502:physiology; D005260:Female; D019416:Head Movements / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009039:Motion Perception / Q000502:physiology*; D010775:Photic Stimulation / Q000379:methods*; D014584:User-Computer Interface; D055815:Young Adult