Multisensory perception: effects of self-motion and orientation

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You are driving and suddenly there is a flash and a bang on the sidewalk. You crane your neck in that direction and assess whether you need to adjust your driving in response to the event. This project investigates how you localize objects and events perceived through the different senses while you are moving. In order to fully understand this apparently straightforward act, we need to understand how you integrate sensory information to inform yourself about your motion, and how you use this information to update your perception of the location of objects in the scene relative to your moving self and to distinguish motion of an object due to your own movement from any external motion. I will use a motion platform to create passively and actively controlled movements of an observer, and a Tumbling Room that can alter the relationship between the perceived and actual direction of gravity together with virtual reality simulations and other stimuli to expose, quantify and model the errors that we make while doing these things. The perceived positions of real and virtual visual, auditory and tactile stimuli will be measured as well as the perception of the observer's self-motion and of the observer's own perceived body dimensions. Novel aspects include the use of multiple directions of movement and the use of multisensory eccentric stimuli. My other lines of research, funded elsewhere, will enhance this research program using measurements from astronauts on the International Space Station, a human centrifuge, and parabolic microgravity flights. To whom the research is important: We know very little about how we localize multisensory events while moving, especially during off-horizontal motion, despite the fact that even forward walking involves sideways and vertical motion of the head. Practical applications of my results will include informing human factors design in driving and flying for improving the virtual reality experience in real gaming. Understanding the (mis-) perception of the position and shape of our own bodies may also help in cases where people have distorted images of their body. Anticipated outcome: We expect to show that vertical and horizontal self-motion have different consequences on perceived localization and that locations perceived through different senses are affected differently by a given pattern of self-motion. We expect that orientation relative to gravity will affect the perception of heading and the perceived dimensions of your own body. Benefits to the research field and Canada: These studies will transform basic perceptual research by quantifying the unexpected role of the motion of the body in multiple aspects of perception. They will inform human factor design in driving and aviation. The exceptional training opportunities offered by my lab and associated training grants will help create the Canadian scientists of tomorrow.