Perception of Egocentric Distance during Gravitational Changes in Parabolic Flight

We explored the effect of gravity on the perceived representation of the absolute distance of objects to the observers within the range from 1.5–6 m. Experiments were performed on board the CNES Airbus Zero-G during parabolic flights eliciting repeated exposures to short periods of microgravity (0 g...

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Main Authors:	Clément, Gilles, Loureiro, Nuno, Sousa, Duarte, Zandvliet, Andre
Format:	Online
Language:	English
Published:	Public Library of Science 2016
Online Access:	https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4963113/

id	pubmed-4963113
recordtype	oai_dc
spelling	pubmed-49631132016-08-08 Perception of Egocentric Distance during Gravitational Changes in Parabolic Flight Clément, Gilles Loureiro, Nuno Sousa, Duarte Zandvliet, Andre Research Article We explored the effect of gravity on the perceived representation of the absolute distance of objects to the observers within the range from 1.5–6 m. Experiments were performed on board the CNES Airbus Zero-G during parabolic flights eliciting repeated exposures to short periods of microgravity (0 g), hypergravity (1.8 g), and normal gravity (1 g). Two methods for obtaining estimates of perceived egocentric distance were used: verbal reports and visually directed motion toward a memorized visual target. For the latter method, because normal walking is not possible in 0 g, blindfolded subjects translated toward the visual target by pulling on a rope with their arms. The results showed that distance estimates using both verbal reports and blind pulling were significantly different between normal gravity, microgravity, and hypergravity. Compared to the 1 g measurements, the estimates of perceived distance using blind pulling were shorter for all distances in 1.8 g, whereas in 0 g they were longer for distances up to 4 m and shorter for distances beyond. These findings suggest that gravity plays a role in both the sensorimotor system and the perceptual/cognitive system for estimating egocentric distance. Public Library of Science 2016-07-27 /pmc/articles/PMC4963113/ /pubmed/27463106 http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0159422 Text en © 2016 Clément et al http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) , which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
repository_type	Open Access Journal
institution_category	Foreign Institution
institution	US National Center for Biotechnology Information
building	NCBI PubMed
collection	Online Access
language	English
format	Online
author	Clément, Gilles Loureiro, Nuno Sousa, Duarte Zandvliet, Andre
spellingShingle	Clément, Gilles Loureiro, Nuno Sousa, Duarte Zandvliet, Andre Perception of Egocentric Distance during Gravitational Changes in Parabolic Flight
author_facet	Clément, Gilles Loureiro, Nuno Sousa, Duarte Zandvliet, Andre
author_sort	Clément, Gilles
title	Perception of Egocentric Distance during Gravitational Changes in Parabolic Flight
title_short	Perception of Egocentric Distance during Gravitational Changes in Parabolic Flight
title_full	Perception of Egocentric Distance during Gravitational Changes in Parabolic Flight
title_fullStr	Perception of Egocentric Distance during Gravitational Changes in Parabolic Flight
title_full_unstemmed	Perception of Egocentric Distance during Gravitational Changes in Parabolic Flight
title_sort	perception of egocentric distance during gravitational changes in parabolic flight
description	We explored the effect of gravity on the perceived representation of the absolute distance of objects to the observers within the range from 1.5–6 m. Experiments were performed on board the CNES Airbus Zero-G during parabolic flights eliciting repeated exposures to short periods of microgravity (0 g), hypergravity (1.8 g), and normal gravity (1 g). Two methods for obtaining estimates of perceived egocentric distance were used: verbal reports and visually directed motion toward a memorized visual target. For the latter method, because normal walking is not possible in 0 g, blindfolded subjects translated toward the visual target by pulling on a rope with their arms. The results showed that distance estimates using both verbal reports and blind pulling were significantly different between normal gravity, microgravity, and hypergravity. Compared to the 1 g measurements, the estimates of perceived distance using blind pulling were shorter for all distances in 1.8 g, whereas in 0 g they were longer for distances up to 4 m and shorter for distances beyond. These findings suggest that gravity plays a role in both the sensorimotor system and the perceptual/cognitive system for estimating egocentric distance.
publisher	Public Library of Science
publishDate	2016
url	https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4963113/
_version_	1613616134768033792

Perception of Egocentric Distance during Gravitational Changes in Parabolic Flight

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