Target-directed head movements in a head-coupled virtual environment: predicting the effects of lags using Fitts' law

Two experiments have investigated the effects of lag on discrete target-directed head movements in a virtual environment. Both the target and a head-slaved pointer (subjected to lag) were presented on a head-mounted display. Target-directed head movements in the presence of a constant time lag were shown to obey Fitts' law (R2 > .93). A previously reported interaction between the effects of lag and the effects of index-of-difficulty on hand movement time could not be found in head movement time when the target width was kept constant. Further experiments suggested that there is a significant interaction between the effects of target width and lag but not between target distance and lag. A model predicting head movement strategy in the presence of lag is proposed to explain the experimental findings. This model predicts, and experiments verified, that for a target width from 1 degree to 8 degrees and a target distance range of 2.5 degrees to 30 degrees, the effect of lag (up to 267 ms) on target-directed head movement is independent of target distance but dependent on target width. Actual or potential applications of this research include the design of virtual control panel and its layout in a Virtual Reality simulator.