Cue Conflicts in Optic Flow and Body Orientation During Spatial Updating

Abstract

When spatial updating tasks are performed in a real-world setting, participants usually complete it with ease (e.g., Klatzky et al., 1998). However, in virtual reality (VR), when tasks are presented using optic flow, participants tend to exhibit one of two response patterns, with some participants correctly updating their headings (“turners”) and others pointing consistently in the opposite direction (“non-turners”) (e.g., Gramann et al., 2005). While research has looked at the stability and pointing characteristics of these two groups (e.g., Gramann et al., 2012; Riecke, 2008), we still do not know why non-turners exist. The following thesis studied two potential sources of cue conflict—stationary versus central visual information and sensorimotor interference—that could impact participants’ strategies using the Starfield task (Gramann et al., 2012). Occluding stationary peripheral information increased pointing errors, especially for turners. It is thus possible that turners require the peripheral information to correctly parse and process the central optic flow. Alternatively, manipulating body orientation to decrease sensorimotor interference seemed to decrease error and increase strategy consistency for both turners and non-turners. It is possible that the orientation changes allowed participants to ignore the stationary body- based cues, thereby improving spatial updating. Although these manipulations did not remove the non-turner group altogether, they provided important insights into how cue conflicts may play a role in spatial updating for VR tasks.