Visual field influence on manual roll and pitch stabilization

Human control performance in nulling perceived tilt angles was investigated for combinations of pseduo-random vestibular disturbances and different waveforms of low frequency wide visual field motions. For both roll and pitch axes, subjects tilted the trainer in which they were seated in the direction of field rotation. This visual bias was much stronger for pitch backwards with upward field rotation. Frequency response analysis showed the dominance of visual cues at low frequencies (below 0.06 Hz) and the reliance on vestibular information in the high frequency range for both axes. Models suggest that operator balancing responses at high frequencies are mainly processed by the semicircular canals rather than the otolith organs. The results also suggest that the subject tends to rely less on the otolith organs for pitch perception than for roll.