The Influence of Perceptual-Motor Variability on the Perception of Action Boundaries for Reaching in a Real-World Setting

The ability to accurately perceive the extent over which one can act is requisite for the successful execution of visually guided actions. Yet, like other outcomes of perceptual-motor experience, our perceived action boundaries are not stagnant, but in constant flux. Hence, the perceptual systems must account for variability in one’s action capabilities in order for the perceiver to determine when they are capable of successfully performing an action. Recent work has found that, after reaching with a virtual arm that varied between short and long each time they reach, individuals determined their perceived action boundaries using the most liberal reaching experience. However, these studies were conducted in virtual reality, and the perceptual systems may handle variability differently in a real-world setting. To test this hypothesis, we created a modified orthopedic elbow brace that mimics injury in the upper limb by restricting elbow extension via remote control. Participants were asked to make reachability judgments after training in which the maximum extent of their reaching ability was either unconstricted, constricted or variable over several calibration trials. Findings from the current study did not conform to those in virtual reality; participants were more conservative with their reachability estimates after experiencing variability in a real-world setting.

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It’s in your hands: How variable perception affects grasping estimates in virtual reality

Psychonomic Bulletin & Review ◽

10.3758/s13423-021-01916-x ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Megan Rose Readman ◽

Dalton Cooper ◽

Sally A. Linkenauger

Keyword(s):

Virtual Reality ◽

Perceptual System ◽

Motor Variability ◽

Action Capability ◽

Motor Experience ◽

Action Capabilities ◽

Average Action

AbstractSuccessful interaction within one’s environment is contingent upon one’s ability to accurately perceive the extent over which actions can be performed, referred to as action boundaries. As our possibilities for action are subject to variability, it is necessary for individuals to be able to update their perceived action boundaries to accommodate for variance. While research has shown that individuals can update their action boundaries to accommodate for variability, it is unclear how the perceptual system calibrates to this variance to inform our action boundaries. This study investigated the influence of perceptual motor variability by analysing the effect of random and systematic variability on perceived grasp ability in virtual reality. Participants estimated grasp ability following perceptual-motor experience with a constricted, normal, extended, or variable grasp. In Experiment 1, participants experienced all three grasping abilities (constricted, normal, extended) 33% of the time. In Experiment 2 participants experienced the constricted and normal grasps 25% of the time, and the extended grasp 50% of the time. The results indicated that when perceptual-motor feedback is inconsistent, the perceptual system disregards the frequency of perceptual-motor experience with the different action capabilities and considers each action capability experienced as a type, and subsequently calibrates to the average action boundary experienced by type.

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Sensory conflict alters visual perception of action capabilities during crossing of a closing gap in virtual reality

Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology ◽

10.1177/1747021820942212 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 73 (12) ◽

pp. 2309-2316

Author(s):

Natalie Snyder ◽

Michael Cinelli

Keyword(s):

Virtual Reality ◽

Visual Information ◽

Sensory Input ◽

Vestibular Input ◽

Gait Termination ◽

Switch Point ◽

Action Capabilities ◽

Acceleration And Deceleration ◽

Locomotion Interface ◽

Perception Of Action

The somatosensory, vestibular, and visual systems contribute to multisensory integration, which facilitates locomotion around obstacles in the environment. The joystick-controlled virtual reality (VR) locomotion interface does not preserve congruent sensory input like real-walking, yet is commonly used in human behaviour research. Our purpose was to determine if collision avoidance behaviours were affected during an aperture crossing task when somatosensory and vestibular input were incongruent, and only vision was accurate. Participants included 36 young adults who completed a closing gap aperture crossing task in VR using real-walking and joystick-controlled locomotion. Participants successfully completed the task using both interfaces. Switch point between passable and impassable apertures was larger for joystick-controlled locomotion compared with real-walking, but time-to-contact (TTC) was lower for real-walking than joystick-controlled locomotion. Increased joystick-controlled locomotion switch point may be attributed to incongruency between visual and non-visual information, causing underestimation of distance travelled towards the aperture. Performance on future VR applications incorporating dynamically changing gaps can be considered successful using joystick-controlled locomotion, while taking into account a potential behaviour difference. Differences in TTC may be explained by the requirement of gait termination in real-walking but not in joystick-controlled locomotion. Future VR studies would benefit from programming acceleration and deceleration into joystick-controlled locomotion interfaces.

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The effect of a virtual reality environment on gaze behaviour and motor skill learning

10.31234/osf.io/yke6c ◽

2019 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

David Harris

Keyword(s):

Virtual Reality ◽

Real World ◽

Motor Skill ◽

Skill Learning ◽

Visually Guided ◽

Haptic Information ◽

Physical Constraints ◽

Precise Control ◽

Quiet Eye ◽

Gaze Behaviour

Virtual reality (VR) systems hold significant potential for both training and experimentation purposes as they provide precise control over the environment and the possibility to untether tasks from their normal physical constraints. However, the artificial creation of depth in stereoscopic displays, and reduced availability of haptic information, may affect how visually-guided motor tasks are performed in the virtual world. If so, tasks learned in VR may be unrepresentative of real skills, and therefore unlikely to elicit positive transfer to the real-world. In Experiment 1 we tested whether learning a visually-guided motor skill (golf putting) in virtual reality could transfer to real-world improvements. Despite the perceptual limitations imposed by the virtual environment, training novice golfers in VR led to improvements in real putting that were comparable to real-world practice. Experiment 2 explored these effects in more skilled golfers, and examined changes in gaze behaviour (quiet eye) that resulted from the more immediate use of VR (i.e. as a tool for ‘warming up’). VR use was found to cause impairments to gaze control (quiet eye) and putting accuracy, when used immediately prior to real world putting. Overall, these findings demonstrate the potential for VR training, but also highlight that fundamental questions remain about how the altered perceptual environment of VR affects visually-guided skills.

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