The effect of gain adaptation on perception and posture

Area of Science:

• Human-Computer Interaction
• Virtual Reality
• Perception and Motor Control

Background:

• Consistent motion simulation in Virtual Reality (VR) is challenging due to tracking and locomotion limitations.
• Scaling motion between physical and virtual environments affects user perception and stability.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate how adaptation to different motion scaling gains in VR affects the point of subjective stationarity (PSS) during active self-motion.
• To examine changes in postural sway (in dark and visually-induced) after adapting to varying motion gains.

Main Methods:

• Participants adapted to normal, reduced, and increased motion gain levels in VR.
• Measured point of subjective stationarity (PSS) during active self-motion.
• Measured postural sway in the dark and visually-induced sway during quiet stance before and after adaptation.

Main Results:

• Point of subjective stationarity (PSS) during active self-motion did not change with adaptation gain.
• Postural sway, particularly visually-induced sway, was modulated after adapting to non-unity gains.
• Baseline postural sway in the dark (left-right) increased after adapting to normal gain VR motion.

Conclusions:

• Active self-motion in VR provides robust somatosensory feedback, maintaining a consistent PSS despite gain adaptation.
• Postural responses, especially visually-induced sway, recalibrate differently and may operate independently of immediate perceptual shifts.
• Findings suggest distinct mechanisms for perceptual adaptation and postural control in VR environments.