The Perception and Estimation of Egocentric Distance in Real and Augmented Reality Environments

The perception of distance to real and virtual objects using two methods of distance estimation (verbal estimation and manual replication) along a 110 foot hallway was tested. Results suggest that verbal estimates of distance may not accurately reflect perceived distances. Replication procedure significantly improves the estimation of the previously viewed object distance. Furthermore, the effects of distance judgment method were greater than were the effects of environment type. The magnitude of the distance judgment error was considerably larger for the estimation condition in the real environment than it was for the replication condition in the augmented environment. These results lend further support to the notion that verbal estimates of distance do not accurately represent perceived distance. Unless the task being performed specifically requires a numerical estimate of distance, it is recommended that methods similar to our distance replication method be used to accurately determine perceived distance.