Visual Control of Displacement at Slow Speeds

Abstract

Harbor navigation was simulated on a computer-driven, real-time system. Subjects' ability to keep a virtual vehicle within spatial boundaries was investigated in a situation in which the apparent transformations of the visual scene could only be perceived as successive perspective views of the navigation area. In two experiments, subjects' performance was measured as a function of the visual information available. Results indicate that providing dynamic visual cues indicating the rotational movement of the vehicle (experiment 1) or the spatial properties of its trajectory (experiment 2) results in improved performance. They suggest how fundamental the role of motion perception is in vehicle guidance, and bring up its possible implications for the ergonomics of displacement control at slow speeds.