Does Perceptual-Motor Calibration Generalize across Two Different Forms of Locomotion? Investigations of Walking and Wheelchairs

Abstract

The relationship between biomechanical action and perception of self-motion during walking is typically consistent and well-learned but also adaptable. This perceptual-motor coupling can be recalibrated by creating a mismatch between the visual information for self-motion and walking speed. Perceptual-motor recalibration of locomotion has been demonstrated through effects on subsequent walking without vision, showing that learned perceptual-motor coupling influences a dynamic representation of one's spatial position during walking. Our present studies test whether recalibration of wheelchair locomotion, a novel form of locomotion for typically walking individuals, similarly influences subsequent wheelchair locomotion. Furthermore, we test whether adaptation to the pairing of visual information for self-motion during one form of locomotion transfers to a different locomotion modality. We find strong effects of perceptual-motor recalibration for matched locomotion modalities – walking/walking and wheeling/wheeling. Transfer across incongruent locomotion modalities showed weak recalibration effects. The results have implications both for theories of perceptual-motor calibration mechanisms and their effects on spatial orientation, as well as for practical applications in training and rehabilitation.

Perceiving Absolute Scale in Virtual Environments: How Theory and Application Have Mutually Informed the Role of Body-Based Perception

“…Rieser and colleagues proposed a functional perceptual-motor account of adaptation, supported by the results that the adaptation generalized to other forms of locomotion that served translating through space (e.g., side stepping), but not to nonlocomotor functions such as throwing. However, more recent work questions this claim with results that show stronger recalibration effects linked to a specific mode of locomotion (Kunz, Creem-Regehr, & Thompson, 2013), or conversely, that effects of continuous visual feedback while walking more broadly generalize to changes in perception of environmental scale (Kelly, Donaldson, Sjolund, & Freiberg, 2013). Furthermore, there is also the suggestion that some apparent adaptation effects are due to specific strategies employed or cognitive correction (Mohler, Creem-Regehr, & Thompson, 2006;Richardson & Waller, 2005).…”

“…Interestingly, this same manipulation did not affect verbal reports in real-world judgments, providing support for a spatial updating or functional account of recalibration, revealed only through subsequent action in the real world. Kunz et al (2013) further tested the functional account in a study examining perceptual-motor recalibration with walking and wheelchair locomotion, with normally walking participants. Using an HMD-VE, participants adapted to faster or slower visual motion while either walking or moving in a wheelchair.…”

“…The Mohler et al (2007) and Kunz et al (2013) studies reported above involved performance testing in the real world and adaptation in the VE. It is possible that a more general rescaling of space occurs when feedback and responses are performed totally within the VE.…”

Effects of visual and proprioceptive information in visuo-motor calibration during a closed-loop physical reach task in immersive virtual environments

“…There is a large amount of previous work that focuses on visuomotor recalibration through closed-loop interactions in real world [Rieser et al 1995;Bingham and Pagano 1998] as well as in VE's [Mohler et al 2006;Kunz et al 2013]. To overcome the problem of seeing the world as compressed in VR, some suggested that users' interactions with the environment could potentially change distance estimation in relatively short amount of time [Richardson and Waller 2005;Altenhoff et al 2012].…”

Visual estimation of apertures for wheelchair locomotion in novices: Perceptual judgment and motor practice.

“…We often have to avoid potential obstacles and collisions by altering our whole-body trajectory and adjusting the position of the head and body segments to overcome apertures or gaps between objects. Although we easily manage to successfully perform our everyday activities, how our perception and action systems interact during learning and adaptation has been a topic of debate (Kunz, Creem-Regehr, & Thompson, 2013). In particular, wheelchair locomotion has an additional perceptual-motor requirement because the wheelchair represents an extension of the user's body that needs to be perceived and controlled (Stoffregen, Yang, Giveans, Flanagan, & Bardy, 2009).…”