Abstract
The goal of this experiment was to validate an experimental set-up for studying locomotor pointing. The specific and also original element of this set-up was the interactive nature of virtual reality and movement production. This interaction was achieved through the coupling of a treadmill and a Silicon Graphics system. This latter system generated on a screen (3 × 2.3 m) an environmental array that moved according to the action produced by subjects on a treadmill. The task was to place either foot on a spatial target that appeared on the floor in front of the subject’s displacement trajectory. We analyzed the step length patterns of subjects approaching these targets, along with the current target-subject relationship. The results are in agreement with aperception-action coupling type of control mechanism that operates continuously as the subject approaches the desired target. Apparently, these findings mirror observations of real-life locomotion, indicating that the present set-up provides a valid and useful tool for examining human locomotion.
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De Rugy, A., Montagne, G., Buekers, M.J. et al. The study of locomotor pointing in virtual reality: The validation of a test set-up. Behavior Research Methods, Instruments, & Computers 32, 515–520 (2000). https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03200823
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03200823