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Related Experiment Videos

Visual orientation in a mirror world tilted 90 degrees.

Ian P Howard1, Gang Hu, Rebecca Saxe

  • 1Center for Vision Research, York University, Toronto, Ontario, Canada. ihoward@cvr.yorku.ca

Perception
|March 19, 2005
PubMed
Summary

Visual perception can override gravity cues. Familiar scenes viewed in a mirror create a "visual-righting" illusion, making horizontal objects appear vertical, even when the body feels partially upright.

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Area of Science:

  • Visual Perception
  • Human Orientation
  • Spatial Cognition

Background:

  • Previous research demonstrated the
  • levitation illusion,
  • where supine observers in a tilted room perceive upright orientation.
  • This suggests visual cues can dominate vestibular input.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the
  • visual-righting
  • effect where familiar scenes appear vertical when optically horizontal.
  • To determine the role of intrinsic and extrinsic polarity in generating this illusion.

Main Methods:

  • Supine observers viewed scenes through a mirror at 45 degrees.
  • Experiment 1 tested objects with intrinsic (familiar top/bottom) and extrinsic (support) polarity.
Keywords:
NASA Discipline NeuroscienceNon-NASA Center

Related Experiment Videos

  • Experiment 2 compared views through a window versus a picture.

    • Main Results:

    • A blank surface appeared as a ceiling.
    • Scenes with intrinsically polarized objects (chair, person) were perceived as vertical.
    • Extrinsically polarized objects (ball on shelf) also induced a vertical perception.
    • Polarized scenes viewed through a window were more effective than pictures.

    Conclusions:

    • The polarity axis of a scene is readily accepted as vertical, overriding conflicting gravity information.
    • Intrinsic object polarity is potent in inducing the visual-righting illusion.
    • Extrinsic polarity and viewing context (window vs. picture) also influence the illusion.