Visuomotor control of intermittent circular tracking movements with visually guided orbits in 3D VR environment

Abstract

The analysis of visually guided tracking movements is important to the understanding of imitation exercises and movements carried out using the human visuomotor control system. In this study, we analyzed the characteristics of visuomotor control in the intermittent performance of circular tracking movements by applying a system that can differentiate between the conditions of invisible and visible orbits and visible and invisible target phases implemented in a 3D VR space. By applying visuomotor control based on velocity control, our study participants were able to track objects with visible orbits with a precision of approximately 1.25 times greater than they could track objects with invisible orbits. We confirmed that position information is an important parameter related to intermittent motion at low speeds (below 0.5 Hz) and that tracked target velocity information could be obtained more precisely than position information at speeds above 0.5 Hz. Our results revealed that the feedforward (FF) control corresponding to velocity was delayed under the visible-orbit condition at speeds over 0.5 Hz, suggesting that, in carrying out imitation exercises and movements, the use of visually presented 3D guides can interfere with exercise learning and, therefore, that the effects of their use should be carefully considered.