Simulating self-motion I: Cues for the perception of motion

When people move there are many visual and non-visual cues that can inform them about their movement. Simulating self-motion in a virtual reality environment thus needs to take these non-visual cues into account in addition to the normal high-quality visual display. Here we examine the contribution of visual and non-visual cues to our perception of self-motion. The perceived distance of self-motion can be estimated from the visual flow field, physical forces or the act of moving. On its own, passive visual motion is a very effective cue to self-motion, and evokes a perception of self-motion that is related to the actual motion in a way that varies with acceleration. Passive physical motion turns out to be a particularly potent self-motion cue: not only does it evoke an exaggerated sensation of motion, but it also tends to dominate other cues. [PUBLICATION ABSTRACT]