Abstract
The spatial and temporal integration of visual information is important in motion perception and steering control. Recent research showed that reduced optic flow quality and quantity impaired steering performance under reduced visibility conditions. However, it is not clear how the spatial and temporal integration of optic flow in steering control is affected by low visibility conditions. In the current study we examined the effect of low visibility on spatial and temporal integration in a 2D shape perception (2DSP) task, which was further compared to a steering control task under reduced visibility conditions for younger adults. In the 2DSP task, participants were asked to identify a 2D shape resulting from kinetic occlusion information. Displays consisted of a 2D array of dots on both foreground shapes and the background. When the foreground object moves the disappearance and reappearance of background dots can be used to recover the object shape. Three versions of the 2DSP task were developed in which two of the three variables, the density, the lifetime, and the contrast of the dots, were manipulated. In each of the three versions, the threshold of one variable was measured, while the other two variables were manipulated. Twenty-one participants were randomly assigned to perform one of the three 2DSP tasks, and then completed a steering control task. In the steering control task, the visibility of the scene was manipulated by varying the quantity and quality of the optical flow information. We found that the correlation between the 2DSP task and steering control task under low contrast conditions depended on temporal integration. These results suggest that under reduced visibility conditions, temporal integration of visual information may play a larger role in steering control.
Meeting abstract presented at VSS 2013