title: Just the sight of you: postural effects of interpersonal visual contact at sea.
abstract: The control of standing body posture is affected by mechanical perturbations, such as motion of the support surface. Postural activity also is responsive to subtle social factors: When 2 people interact there is spontaneous interpersonal coordination of their movements. We asked whether interpersonal postural coordination based on visual contact would be robust in the presence of mechanical perturbations that characterize sea travel. During an ocean voyage, pairs of participants stood facing together or facing apart. Interpersonal coordination of body sway was stronger when participants faced each other than when they faced apart. Furthermore, overall body movement was reduced when individuals faced together, suggesting that the sight of another person improved individuals' ability to compensate for ship motion. These findings provide the first evidence that the "soft" constraint of interpersonal visual contact can influence interpersonal postural coordination as people simultaneously adjust postural sway in response to powerful mechanical (i.e., "hard") constraints.
authors.affiliation: Movement to Health Laboratory, EuroMov, University of Montpellier 1.
authors.forename: Manuel
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Varlet
authors.affiliation: School of Kinesiology, University of Minnesota.
authors.forename: Thomas A
authors.initials: TA
authors.lastname: Stoffregen
authors.affiliation: Department of Recreation Sport & Health Promotion, National Pingtung University of Science and Technology.
authors.forename: Fu-Chen
authors.initials: FC
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Escola de Educação Física e Esporte, Universidade de São Paulo.
authors.forename: Cristina
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Alcantara
authors.affiliation: Movement to Health Laboratory, EuroMov, University of Montpellier 1.
authors.forename: Ludovic
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Marin
authors.affiliation: Movement to Health Laboratory, EuroMov, University of Montpellier 1.
authors.forename: Benoît G
authors.initials: BG
authors.lastname: Bardy
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001288:Attention; D005260:Female; D005403:Fixation, Ocular; D006801:Humans; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D007699:Kinesthesis; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009043:Motor Activity; D004856:Postural Balance; D011597:Psychomotor Performance; D012767:Ships; D014794:Visual Fields; D014796:Visual Perception; D055815:Young Adult