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Yamasaki D, Nagai M. Emotion-gaze interaction affects time-to-collision estimates, but not preferred interpersonal distance towards looming faces. Front Psychol 2024; 15:1414702. [PMID: 39323584 PMCID: PMC11423545 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1414702] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/09/2024] [Accepted: 06/10/2024] [Indexed: 09/27/2024] Open
Abstract
Estimating the time until impending collision (time-to-collision, TTC) of approaching or looming individuals and maintaining a comfortable distance from others (interpersonal distance, IPD) are commonly required in daily life and contribute to survival and social goals. Despite accumulating evidence that facial expressions and gaze direction interactively influence face processing, it remains unclear how these facial features affect the spatiotemporal processing of looming faces. We examined whether facial expressions (fearful vs. neutral) and gaze direction (direct vs. averted) interact on the judgments of TTC and IPD for looming faces, based on the shared signal hypothesis that fear signals the existence of threats in the environment when coupled with averted gaze. Experiment 1 demonstrated that TTC estimates were reduced for fearful faces compared to neutral ones only when the concomitant gaze was averted. In Experiment 2, the emotion-gaze interaction was not observed in the IPD regulation, which is arguably sensitive to affective responses to faces. The results suggest that fearful-averted faces modulate the cognitive extrapolation process of looming motion by communicating environmental threats rather than by altering subjective fear or perceived emotional intensity of faces. The TTC-specific effect may reflect an enhanced defensive response to unseen threats implied by looming fearful-averted faces. Our findings provide insight into how the visual system processes facial features to ensure bodily safety and comfortable interpersonal communication in dynamic environments.
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Affiliation(s)
- Daiki Yamasaki
- Research Organization of Open, Innovation and Collaboration, Ritsumeikan University, Osaka, Japan
- Japan Society for the Promotion of Science, Tokyo, Japan
| | - Masayoshi Nagai
- College of Comprehensive Psychology, Ritsumeikan University, Osaka, Japan
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2
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Tong Y, Zhou TM. The effect of background information and motion speed on the performance of TTC estimation. BMC Psychol 2024; 12:17. [PMID: 38183125 PMCID: PMC10770939 DOI: 10.1186/s40359-023-01502-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/25/2023] [Accepted: 12/21/2023] [Indexed: 01/07/2024] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND In previous studies, most research on motion perception have been conducted under background-free condition when the stimulus moved in a plane parallel to the observer. In real-life situations, people's perception of the motion state of objects is usually done under different visual noise. Based on the occlusion paradigm, this study aimed to investigate whether different background information and motion speed affect the trend and accuracy of time-to-collision (TTC) estimation when stimuli move in a plane parallel to the observer. METHODS Thirty five college students (mean age = 20.94, SD = 2.95, range = 18-28 years) participated in experiment 1, and used a 2 (background orientation: horizontal, vertical) × 3 (motion speed: slow, medium, fast) design to explore the effect of different line segment orientations and motion speed on TTC estimation performance; 36 college students (mean age = 20.81, SD = 2.82, range = 18-28 years) participated in experiment 2, and used a 2 (background dimension: two-dimensional background, three-dimensional background) × 3 (motion speed: slow, medium, fast) design to explore the effect of different background dimensions and motion speed on the performance of TTC estimation. The data were analyzed using SPSS 25.0. RESULTS The results revealed that: (1) The TTC was underestimated for the slow speed condition and overestimated for the medium and fast speed conditions. (2) The highest accuracy of TTC estimation was obtained for the fast condition. (3) The TTC were overestimated for the vertical background condition and underestimated for the horizontal background condition. (4) Compared to the two-dimensional background, the TTC was overestimated in the three-dimensional background. CONCLUSIONS Object motion speed affected the TTC estimation performance, and different background information affected the TTC estimation performance when the object moved in a plane parallel to the observer. Meanwhile, the impact of background orientation and motion speed showed significant interactions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yao Tong
- School of Educational Science, Shenyang Normal University, Shenyang, 110034, China
| | - Tie-Min Zhou
- School of Educational Science, Shenyang Normal University, Shenyang, 110034, China.
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3
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Baurès R, Leblond S, Dewailly A, Cherubini M, Subramanian LD, Kearney JK, Durand JB, Roux FE. Should I stay or should I go? The cerebral bases of street-crossing decision. J Neurosci Res 2024; 102:e25279. [PMID: 38284833 DOI: 10.1002/jnr.25279] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/05/2023] [Revised: 10/11/2023] [Accepted: 11/13/2023] [Indexed: 01/30/2024]
Abstract
An observer willing to cross a street must first estimate if the approaching cars offer enough time to safely complete the task. The brain areas supporting this perception, known as Time-To-Contact (TTC) perception, have been mainly studied through noninvasive correlational approaches. We carried out an experiment in which patients were tested during an awake brain surgery electrostimulation mapping to examine the causal implication of various brain areas in the street-crossing decision process. Forty patients were tested in a gap acceptance task before their surgery to establish a baseline performance. The task was individually adapted upon this baseline level and carried out during their surgery. We acquired and normalized to MNI space the coordinates of the functional areas that influenced task performance. A total of 103 stimulation sites were tested, allowing to establish a large map of the areas involved in the street-crossing decision. Multiple sites were found to impact the gap acceptance decision. A direct implication was however found mostly for sites within the right parietal lobe, while indirect implication was found for sites within the language, motor, or attentional networks. The right parietal lobe can be considered as causally influencing the gap acceptance decision. Other positive sites were all accompanied with dysfunction in other cognitive functions, and therefore should probably not be considered as the site of TTC estimation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Robin Baurès
- CerCo, Université de Toulouse, CNRS, UPS, CHU Purpan, Toulouse, France
| | - Solène Leblond
- CerCo, Université de Toulouse, CNRS, UPS, CHU Purpan, Toulouse, France
| | - Andrea Dewailly
- CerCo, Université de Toulouse, CNRS, UPS, CHU Purpan, Toulouse, France
| | - Marta Cherubini
- CerCo, Université de Toulouse, CNRS, UPS, CHU Purpan, Toulouse, France
| | | | | | | | - Franck Emmanuel Roux
- CerCo, Université de Toulouse, CNRS, UPS, CHU Purpan, Toulouse, France
- Pôle Neurosciences (Neurochirurgie), Centres Hospitalo-Universitaires, Toulouse, France
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4
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Sato K, Fukuhara K, Higuchi T. Age-Related Changes in the Utilization of Visual Information for Collision Prediction: A Study Using an Affordance-Based Model. Exp Aging Res 2023:1-17. [PMID: 37942547 DOI: 10.1080/0361073x.2023.2278985] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/23/2023] [Accepted: 10/28/2023] [Indexed: 11/10/2023]
Abstract
The ability to predict collisions with moving objects deteriorates with aging. We followed the affordance-based model to identify optical variables that older adults had difficulty using for collision prediction. We reproduced a modified version of the interception task used in Steinmetz (Steinmetz, Layton, Powell, & Fajen, 2020, "Affordance-based versus current - future accounts of choosing whether to pursue or abandon the chase of a moving target," Journal of Vision, 20(3), 8) in a virtual reality (VR) environment and newly introduced perturbation for each of three optical variables (vertical and horizontal expansions of a moving object and the bearing angle produced between participants and a moving object). We expected that perturbation would negatively affect the performance only for those who rely on the optical variable to perform the interception task effectively. We tested 18 older and 15 younger adults and showed that older participants were not negatively affected by the perturbation for the vertical and horizontal expansion of a moving object, while they showed decreased performance when the perturbation was introduced with a bearing angle. These findings suggest that predicting collisions with moving objects deteriorates with aging because the perception of object expansion is impaired with aging.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kazuyuki Sato
- Department of Health Promotion Science, Tokyo Metropolitan University, Hachioji, Tokyo, Japan
| | - Kazunobu Fukuhara
- Department of Health Promotion Science, Tokyo Metropolitan University, Hachioji, Tokyo, Japan
| | - Takahiro Higuchi
- Department of Health Promotion Science, Tokyo Metropolitan University, Hachioji, Tokyo, Japan
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5
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Bernhard C, Reinhard R, Kleer M, Hecht H. A Case for Raising the Camera: A Driving Simulator Test of Camera-Monitor Systems. HUMAN FACTORS 2023; 65:321-336. [PMID: 33887966 DOI: 10.1177/00187208211010941] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/12/2023]
Abstract
OBJECTIVE This experiment provides a first-of-its-kind driving-simulator study to investigate the feasibility of camera-monitor systems (CMS) with displaced side-mounted cameras in sedans. BACKGROUND Among the increasing number of studies investigating the replacement of side-mounted rearview mirrors with CMS, the placement of side-mounted cameras has been largely neglected. Moreover, user preferences with respect to camera placement have not been validated in a driving simulator. Past research merely has shown that the vertical camera position can affect distance perception. METHOD In a driving simulator experiment, we investigated the effects of rearward camera placement on driver acceptance and performance. Thirty-six participants performed multiple lane changes in a last safe-gap paradigm. The camera position, ego-velocity, and velocity of the approaching vehicle varied across the experiment. RESULTS The results suggest a clear preference for a high rearward perspective, whereas participants disliked the lower viewpoint. However, these stark differences were only marginally mirrored in lane change performance. Average safety margins tended to decrease and their variation tended to increase for the low camera position. CONCLUSION Even if the impact of the camera position on driving behavior seems to be small in sedans, driver expectations show clear-cut preferences. When designing CMS, this should be taken into account, as these preferences could promote the use of CMS and thus their positive impact on safety. APPLICATION Designers should place side-mounted cameras as high as possible to increase acceptance of CMS. Low camera positions are not recommended, as they might decrease safety margins and are not appreciated by drivers.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - René Reinhard
- 28447 Fraunhofer-Institute for Industrial Mathematics ITWM, Germany
- 9182 University of Kaiserslautern, Germany
| | - Michael Kleer
- 28447 Fraunhofer-Institute for Industrial Mathematics ITWM, Germany
| | - Heiko Hecht
- 153735 Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz, Germany
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Oberfeld D, Wessels M, Büttner D. Overestimated time-to-collision for quiet vehicles: Evidence from a study using a novel audiovisual virtual-reality system for traffic scenarios. ACCIDENT; ANALYSIS AND PREVENTION 2022; 175:106778. [PMID: 35878469 DOI: 10.1016/j.aap.2022.106778] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/03/2022] [Revised: 07/04/2022] [Accepted: 07/14/2022] [Indexed: 06/15/2023]
Abstract
To avoid collision, pedestrians intending to cross a road need to estimate the time-to-collision (TTC) of an approaching vehicle. Here, we present a novel interactive audiovisual virtual-reality system for investigating how the acoustic characteristics (loudness and engine type) of vehicles influence the TTC estimation. Using acoustic recordings of real vehicles as source signals, the dynamic spatial sound fields corresponding to a vehicle approaching in an urban setting are generated based on physical modeling of the sound propagation between vehicle and pedestrian and are presented via sound field synthesis. We studied TTC estimation for vehicles with internal combustion engine and for loudness-matched electric vehicles. The vehicle sound levels were varied by 10 dB, independently of the speed, presented TTC, and vehicle type. In an auditory-only condition, the cars were not visible, and lower loudness of the cars resulted in considerably longer TTC estimates. Importantly, the loudness of the cars also had a significant effect in the same direction on the TTC estimates in an audiovisual condition, where the cars were additionally visually presented via interactive virtual-reality simulations. Thus, pedestrians use auditory information when estimating TTC, even when full visual information is available. At equal loudness, the TTC judgments for electric and conventional vehicles were virtually identical, indicating that loudness has a stronger effect than spectral differences. Because TTC overestimations can result in risky road crossing decisions, the results imply that vehicle loudness should be considered as an important factor in pedestrian safety.
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Affiliation(s)
- Daniel Oberfeld
- Institute of Psychology, Section Experimental Psychology, Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz, Wallstrasse 3, Mainz 55122, Germany.
| | - Marlene Wessels
- Institute of Psychology, Section Experimental Psychology, Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz, Wallstrasse 3, Mainz 55122, Germany
| | - David Büttner
- Institute of Psychology, Section Experimental Psychology, Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz, Wallstrasse 3, Mainz 55122, Germany
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7
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Bernhard C, Klem A, Altuntas EC, Hecht H. Wider is better but sharper is not: optimizing the image of camera-monitor systems. ERGONOMICS 2022; 65:899-914. [PMID: 34747327 DOI: 10.1080/00140139.2021.2003871] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/03/2021] [Accepted: 10/23/2021] [Indexed: 06/13/2023]
Abstract
The replacement of rear-view mirrors with camera-monitor systems introduces new opportunities for design, such as altering the image quality and the rearward field-of-view. We investigated how the image quality and field-of-view might affect the distance and time-to-contact estimation of other vehicles. Eighty-six subjects estimated either their egocentric distance to a stationary vehicle (Experiment I) or the time-to-contact to an approaching vehicle (Experiment II). Throughout the experiments, the pixel density and either the field-of-view or the viewing condition varied. A larger field-of-view increased distance estimation accuracy and confidence. Reduced pixel density led to larger estimates. In contrast, reduced pixel density and simulated dirt shortened time-to-contact estimates. This is compatible with a safety strategy applied under conditions of impaired vision. Moreover, a limited benefit was observed for higher pixel densities. Therefore, camera-monitor systems with large field-of-view and a pixel density of around 300 ppi could ensure accurate TTC and distance estimation. Practitioner summary: A camera's field-of-view and image quality are important parameters for camera-monitor systems. In two experiments, we investigated the effects of these two parameters on rearward distance and time-to-contact estimation. Whereas a larger field-of-view improved distance estimation accuracy, increasing the pixel density had a limited effect in the estimation of time-to-contact.
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Affiliation(s)
- Christoph Bernhard
- Experimental Psychology, Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz, Mainz, Germany
| | - Aljoscha Klem
- Experimental Psychology, Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz, Mainz, Germany
| | - Elias C Altuntas
- Experimental Psychology, Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz, Mainz, Germany
| | - Heiko Hecht
- Experimental Psychology, Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz, Mainz, Germany
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8
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Ravi S, Siesenop T, Bertrand OJ, Li L, Doussot C, Fisher A, Warren WH, Egelhaaf M. Bumblebees display characteristics of active vision during robust obstacle avoidance flight. J Exp Biol 2022; 225:274096. [PMID: 35067721 PMCID: PMC8920035 DOI: 10.1242/jeb.243021] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/14/2021] [Accepted: 01/18/2022] [Indexed: 11/20/2022]
Abstract
Insects are remarkable flyers and capable of navigating through highly cluttered environments. We tracked the head and thorax of bumblebees freely flying in a tunnel containing vertically oriented obstacles to uncover the sensorimotor strategies used for obstacle detection and collision avoidance. Bumblebees presented all the characteristics of active vision during flight by stabilizing their head relative to the external environment and maintained close alignment between their gaze and flightpath. Head stabilization increased motion contrast of nearby features against the background to enable obstacle detection. As bees approached obstacles, they appeared to modulate avoidance responses based on the relative retinal expansion velocity (RREV) of obstacles and their maximum evasion acceleration was linearly related to RREVmax. Finally, bees prevented collisions through rapid roll manoeuvres implemented by their thorax. Overall, the combination of visuo-motor strategies of bumblebees highlights elegant solutions developed by insects for visually guided flight through cluttered environments.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sridhar Ravi
- Department of Neurobiology and Center of Excellence Cognitive Interaction Technology (CITEC), Bielefeld University, 33619 Bielefeld, Germany,School of Engineering and Information Technology, University of New South Wales, Canberra, ACT 2600, Australia,Author for correspondence ()
| | - Tim Siesenop
- Department of Neurobiology and Center of Excellence Cognitive Interaction Technology (CITEC), Bielefeld University, 33619 Bielefeld, Germany
| | - Olivier J. Bertrand
- Department of Neurobiology and Center of Excellence Cognitive Interaction Technology (CITEC), Bielefeld University, 33619 Bielefeld, Germany
| | - Liang Li
- Department of Collective Behavior, Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior, University of Konstanz, 78464 Konstanz, Germany,Centre for the Advanced Study of Collective Behaviour, University of Konstanz, 78464 Konstanz, Germany,Department of Biology, University of Konstanz, 78464 Konstanz, Germany
| | - Charlotte Doussot
- Department of Neurobiology and Center of Excellence Cognitive Interaction Technology (CITEC), Bielefeld University, 33619 Bielefeld, Germany
| | - Alex Fisher
- School of Engineering, RMIT University, Melbourne, VIC 3001, Australia
| | - William H. Warren
- Department of Cognitive, Linguistic & Psychological Sciences, Brown University, Providence, RI 02912, USA
| | - Martin Egelhaaf
- Department of Neurobiology and Center of Excellence Cognitive Interaction Technology (CITEC), Bielefeld University, 33619 Bielefeld, Germany
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9
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Hecht H, Brendel E, Wessels M, Bernhard C. Estimating time-to-contact when vision is impaired. Sci Rep 2021; 11:21213. [PMID: 34707116 PMCID: PMC8551319 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-021-00331-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/12/2021] [Accepted: 08/30/2021] [Indexed: 01/10/2023] Open
Abstract
Often, we have to rely on limited information when judging time-to-contact (TTC), as for example, when driving in foul weather, or in situations where we would need reading glasses but do not have them handy. However, most existing studies on the ability to judge TTC have worked with optimal visual stimuli. In a prediction motion task, we explored to what extent TTC estimation is affected by visual stimulus degradation. A simple computer-simulated object approached the observer at constant speed either with clear or impaired vision. It was occluded after 1 or 1.5 s. The observers extrapolated the object's motion and pressed a button when they thought the object would have collided with them. We found that dioptric blur and simulated snowfall shortened TTC-estimates. Contrast reduction produced by a virtual semi-transparent mask lengthened TTC estimates, which could be the result of distance overestimation or speed underestimation induced by the lower contrast or the increased luminance of the mask. We additionally explored the potential influence of arousal and valence, although they played a minor role for basic TTC estimation. Our findings suggest that vision impairments have adverse effects on TTC estimation, depending on the specific type of degradation and the changes of the visual environmental cues which they cause.
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Affiliation(s)
- Heiko Hecht
- Psychologisches Institut, Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz, Abteilung Allgemeine Experimentelle Psychologie, Wallstraße 3, 55099, Mainz, Germany.
| | - Esther Brendel
- Psychologisches Institut, Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz, Abteilung Allgemeine Experimentelle Psychologie, Wallstraße 3, 55099, Mainz, Germany
| | - Marlene Wessels
- Psychologisches Institut, Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz, Abteilung Allgemeine Experimentelle Psychologie, Wallstraße 3, 55099, Mainz, Germany
| | - Christoph Bernhard
- Psychologisches Institut, Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz, Abteilung Allgemeine Experimentelle Psychologie, Wallstraße 3, 55099, Mainz, Germany
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10
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Bernhard C, Hecht H. The Ups and Downs of Camera-Monitor Systems: The Effect of Camera Position on Rearward Distance Perception. HUMAN FACTORS 2021; 63:415-432. [PMID: 32011915 DOI: 10.1177/0018720819895866] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/10/2023]
Abstract
OBJECTIVE This study investigates the effects of different positions of side-mounted rear-view cameras on distance estimation of drivers. BACKGROUND Camera-monitor systems bring advantages as compared to conventional rear-view mirrors, such as improved aerodynamics and enlarged field-of-view. Applied research has mainly focused on the comparison between cameras and mirrors or on positioning of in-vehicle monitors. However, the positioning of the exterior camera awaits investigation given that the perspective of the observer at does affect depth perception at large. METHOD In two experiments, a total of 50 students estimated metric distances to static vehicles presented in realistic or 3D-rendered pictures. The pictures depicted the rearward scene of a car following the driver as viewed through a camera at varying vertical and horizontal positions. The following vehicle's size and environmental information varied among conditions and experiments. RESULTS Lower camera positions led to distance overestimation and higher positions to underestimation. The effect increased as the distance to the following vehicle decreased. Moreover, larger vehicles led to stronger distance underestimation, especially in low camera positions. Interestingly, the main effect of camera position disappeared when the ego-vehicles' back was visible. CONCLUSION Different rearward viewpoints affect distance estimation of drivers, especially in close distances. However, a visible reference of one's own vehicle seems to mostly compensate this effect. APPLICATION In general, the rear-view camera should be mounted rather higher and to the front of the vehicle. Also, the vehicle's back should always be visible. Low camera positions are not recommended.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Heiko Hecht
- 1537359182 Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz, Germany
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11
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Chancel M, Hasenack B, Ehrsson HH. Integration of predictions and afferent signals in body ownership. Cognition 2021; 212:104722. [PMID: 33865046 DOI: 10.1016/j.cognition.2021.104722] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/22/2020] [Revised: 04/03/2021] [Accepted: 04/05/2021] [Indexed: 10/21/2022]
Abstract
We aimed at investigating the contribution of sensory predictions triggered by the sight of an object moving towards the body for the sense of body ownership. We used a recently developed psychophysical discrimination task to assess body ownership in the rubber hand illusion. In this task, the participants had to choose which of the two right rubber hands in view felt most like their own, and the ownership discriminations were fitted to psychometric curves. In the current study, we occluded the visual impressions of the object moving towards one of the rubber hands (during the first two-thirds of the path) and only revealed the final third of the object's movement trajectory when it touched the rubber hand (approach-occluded condition). Alternatively, we occluded only the final part so that the main part of the movement towards the model hand was visible (touch-occluded). We compared these two conditions to an illusion baseline condition where the object was visible during the entire trajectory and contact (no-occlusion). The touch-occluded condition produced equally strong hand ownership as the baseline condition with no occlusion, while ownership perception was significantly reduced when vision of the object approaching the rubber hand was occluded (approach-occluded). Our results show that tactile predictions generated from seeing an object moving towards the body are temporally exact, and they contribute to the rubber hand illusion by integrating with temporally congruent afferent sensory signals. This finding highlights the importance of multisensory predictions in peripersonal space, object permanence, and the interplay between bottom-up sensory signals and top-down predictions in body ownership.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marie Chancel
- Department of Neuroscience, Brain, Body and Self Laboratory, Karolinska Institutet, Sweden.
| | - Birgit Hasenack
- Department of Neuroscience, Brain, Body and Self Laboratory, Karolinska Institutet, Sweden; Departement of Psychology, University of Amsterdam, the Netherlands
| | - H Henrik Ehrsson
- Department of Neuroscience, Brain, Body and Self Laboratory, Karolinska Institutet, Sweden
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12
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Baurès R, Fourteau M, Thébault S, Gazard C, Pasquio L, Meneghini G, Perrin J, Rosito M, Durand JB, Roux FE. Time-to-contact perception in the brain. J Neurosci Res 2020; 99:455-466. [PMID: 33070400 DOI: 10.1002/jnr.24740] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/27/2020] [Revised: 09/14/2020] [Accepted: 09/30/2020] [Indexed: 11/10/2022]
Abstract
Time-to-contact (TTC) perception refers to the ability of an observer to estimate the remaining time before an object reaches a point in the environment, and is of crucial importance in daily life. Noninvasive correlational approaches have identified several brain areas sensitive to TTC information. Here we report the results of two studies, including one during an awake brain surgery, that aimed to identify the specific areas causally engaged in the TTC estimation process. In Study 1, we tested 40 patients with brain tumor in a TTC estimation task. The results showed that four of the six patients with impaired performance had tumors in right upper parietal cortex, although this tumoral location represented only six over 40 patients. In Study 2, 15 patients underwent awake brain surgery electrostimulation mapping to examine the implication of various brain areas in the TTC estimation process. We acquired and normalized to MNI space the coordinates of the functional areas that influenced task performance. Our results seem to demonstrate that the early stage of the TTC estimation process involved specific cortical territories in the ventral region of the right intraparietal sulcus. Downstream processing of TTC could also involve the frontal eye field (middle frontal gyrus) related to ocular search. We also found that deactivating language areas in the left hemisphere interfered with the TTC estimation process. These findings demonstrate a fine grained, cortical representation of TTC processing close to the ventral right intraparietal sulcus and complement those described in other human studies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Robin Baurès
- CerCo, Université de Toulouse, CNRS, UPS, CHU Purpan, Toulouse Cedex 9, France
| | - Marie Fourteau
- CerCo, Université de Toulouse, CNRS, UPS, CHU Purpan, Toulouse Cedex 9, France
| | - Salomé Thébault
- CerCo, Université de Toulouse, CNRS, UPS, CHU Purpan, Toulouse Cedex 9, France
| | - Chloé Gazard
- CerCo, Université de Toulouse, CNRS, UPS, CHU Purpan, Toulouse Cedex 9, France
| | - Léa Pasquio
- CerCo, Université de Toulouse, CNRS, UPS, CHU Purpan, Toulouse Cedex 9, France
| | - Giulia Meneghini
- CerCo, Université de Toulouse, CNRS, UPS, CHU Purpan, Toulouse Cedex 9, France
| | - Juliette Perrin
- CerCo, Université de Toulouse, CNRS, UPS, CHU Purpan, Toulouse Cedex 9, France
| | - Maxime Rosito
- CerCo, Université de Toulouse, CNRS, UPS, CHU Purpan, Toulouse Cedex 9, France
| | | | - Franck-Emmanuel Roux
- CerCo, Université de Toulouse, CNRS, UPS, CHU Purpan, Toulouse Cedex 9, France.,Pôle Neurosciences (Neurochirurgie), Centres Hospitalo-Universitaires, Toulouse, France
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13
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Brain activity during time to contact estimation: an EEG study. Cogn Neurodyn 2019; 14:155-168. [PMID: 32226559 DOI: 10.1007/s11571-019-09563-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/26/2019] [Revised: 09/22/2019] [Accepted: 11/07/2019] [Indexed: 10/25/2022] Open
Abstract
Understanding the neural mechanisms associated with time to contact (TTC) estimation is an intriguing but challenging task. Despite the importance of TTC estimation in our everyday life, few studies have been conducted on it, and there are still a lot of unanswered questions and unknown aspects of this issue. In this study, we intended to address one of these unknown aspects. We used independent component analysis to systematically assess EEG substrates associated with TTC estimation using two experiments: (1) transversal motion experiment (when a moving object passes transversally in the frontoparallel plane from side to side in front of the observer), and (2) head-on motion experiment (when the observer is on the motion path of the moving object). We also studied the energy of all EEG sources in these two experiments. The results showed that brain regions involved in the transversal and head-on motion experiments were the same. However, the energy used by some brain regions in the head-on motion experiment, including some regions in left parietotemporal and left frontal lobes, was significantly higher than the energy used by those regions in the transversal motion experiment. These brain regions are dominantly associated with different kinds of visual attention, integration of visual information, and responding to visual motion.
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Feldstein IT. Impending Collision Judgment from an Egocentric Perspective in Real and Virtual Environments: A Review. Perception 2019; 48:769-795. [DOI: 10.1177/0301006619861892] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Abstract
The human egocentric perception of approaching objects and the related perceptual processes have been of interest to researchers for several decades. This article gives a literature review on numerous studies that investigated the phenomenon when an object approaches an observer (or the other way around) with the goal to single out factors that influence the perceptual process. A taxonomy of metrics is followed by a breakdown of different experimental measurement methods. Thereinafter, potential factors affecting the judgment of approaching objects are compiled and debated while divided into human factors (e.g., gender, age, and driving experience), compositional factors (e.g., approaching velocity, spatial distance, and observation time), and technical factors (e.g., field of view, stereoscopy, and display contrast). Experimental findings are collated, juxtaposed, and critically discussed. With virtual-reality devices having taken a tremendous developmental leap forward in the past few years, they have been able to gain ground in experimental research. Therefore, special attention in this article is also given to the perception of approaching objects in virtual environments and put in contrast to the perception in reality.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ilja T. Feldstein
- Harvard Medical School, Department of Ophthalmology, Boston, MA, USA; Technical University of Munich, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Garching, Germany
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Qiu C, Jung JH, Tuccar-Burak M, Spano L, Goldstein R, Peli E. Measuring Pedestrian Collision Detection With Peripheral Field Loss and the Impact of Peripheral Prisms. Transl Vis Sci Technol 2018; 7:1. [PMID: 30197833 PMCID: PMC6126965 DOI: 10.1167/tvst.7.5.1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/04/2017] [Accepted: 06/26/2018] [Indexed: 11/24/2022] Open
Abstract
Purpose Peripheral field loss (PFL) due to retinitis pigmentosa, choroideremia, or glaucoma often results in a highly constricted residual central field, which makes it difficult for patients to avoid collision with approaching pedestrians. We developed a virtual environment to evaluate the ability of patients to detect pedestrians and judge potential collisions. We validated the system with both PFL patients and normally sighted subjects with simulated PFL. We also tested whether properly placed high-power prisms may improve pedestrian detection. Methods A virtual park-like open space was rendered using a driving simulator (configured for walking speeds), and pedestrians in testing scenarios appeared within and outside the residual central field. Nine normally sighted subjects and eight PFL patients performed the pedestrian detection and collision judgment tasks. The performance of the subjects with simulated PFL was further evaluated with field of view expanding prisms. Results The virtual system for testing pedestrian detection and collision judgment was validated. The performance of PFL patients and normally sighted subjects with simulated PFL were similar. The prisms for simulated PFL improved detection rates, reduced detection response times, and supported reasonable collision judgments in the prism-expanded field; detections and collision judgments in the residual central field were not influenced negatively by the prisms. Conclusions The scenarios in a virtual environment are suitable for evaluating PFL and the impact of field of view expanding devices. Translational Relevance This study validated an objective means to evaluate field expansion devices in reproducible near-real-life settings.
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Affiliation(s)
- Cheng Qiu
- Schepens Eye Research Institute, Massachusetts Eye and Ear, Department of Ophthalmology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Jae-Hyun Jung
- Schepens Eye Research Institute, Massachusetts Eye and Ear, Department of Ophthalmology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Merve Tuccar-Burak
- Schepens Eye Research Institute, Massachusetts Eye and Ear, Department of Ophthalmology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Lauren Spano
- Schepens Eye Research Institute, Massachusetts Eye and Ear, Department of Ophthalmology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Robert Goldstein
- Schepens Eye Research Institute, Massachusetts Eye and Ear, Department of Ophthalmology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Eli Peli
- Schepens Eye Research Institute, Massachusetts Eye and Ear, Department of Ophthalmology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
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Silva RM, Lamas J, Silva CC, Coello Y, Mouta S, Santos JA. Judging time-to-passage of looming sounds: Evidence for the use of distance-based information. PLoS One 2017; 12:e0177734. [PMID: 28531210 PMCID: PMC5439697 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0177734] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/30/2016] [Accepted: 05/02/2017] [Indexed: 11/19/2022] Open
Abstract
Perceptual judgments are an essential mechanism for our everyday interaction with other moving agents or events. For instance, estimation of the time remaining before an object contacts or passes us is essential to act upon or to avoid that object. Previous studies have demonstrated that participants use different cues to estimate the time to contact or the time to passage of approaching visual stimuli. Despite the considerable number of studies on the judgment of approaching auditory stimuli, not much is known about the cues that guide listeners' performance in an auditory Time-to-Passage (TTP) task. The present study evaluates how accurately participants judge approaching white-noise stimuli in a TTP task that included variable occlusion periods (portion of the presentation time where the stimulus is not audible). Results showed that participants were able to accurately estimate TTP and their performance, in general, was weakly affected by occlusion periods. Moreover, we looked into the psychoacoustic variables provided by the stimuli and analysed how binaural cues related with the performance obtained in the psychophysical task. The binaural temporal difference seems to be the psychoacoustic cue guiding participants' performance for lower amounts of occlusion, while the binaural loudness difference seems to be the cue guiding performance for higher amounts of occlusion. These results allowed us to explain the perceptual strategies used by participants in a TTP task (maintaining accuracy by shifting the informative cue for TTP estimation), and to demonstrate that the psychoacoustic cue guiding listeners' performance changes according to the occlusion period.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rosa Mariana Silva
- Center for Computer Graphics, Guimarães, Portugal
- Department of Basic Psychology, School of Psychology, University of Minho, Braga, Portugal
| | - João Lamas
- Center for Computer Graphics, Guimarães, Portugal
| | - Carlos César Silva
- Center for Computer Graphics, Guimarães, Portugal
- Department of Informatics, University of Minho, Braga, Portugal
- INESC TEC, Institute for Systems and Computer Engineering Technology and Science, Porto, Portugal
| | - Yann Coello
- Cognitive and Affective Sciences Laboratory (SCALab), UMR 9193 CNRS, University of Lille, Villeneuve d’Ascq, France
| | - Sandra Mouta
- Center for Computer Graphics, Guimarães, Portugal
- INESC TEC, Institute for Systems and Computer Engineering Technology and Science, Porto, Portugal
| | - Jorge Almeida Santos
- Center for Computer Graphics, Guimarães, Portugal
- Department of Basic Psychology, School of Psychology, University of Minho, Braga, Portugal
- Centro Algoritmi, University of Minho, Guimarães, Portugal
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Estimating the relative weights of visual and auditory tau versus heuristic-based cues for time-to-contact judgments in realistic, familiar scenes by older and younger adults. Atten Percept Psychophys 2017; 79:929-944. [DOI: 10.3758/s13414-016-1270-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/08/2022]
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DeLucia PR, Meza-Arroyo M, Baurès R, Ranjit M, Hsiang S, Gorman JC. Continuous Response Monitoring of Relative Time-to-Contact Judgments: Does Effective Information Change During an Approach Event? ECOLOGICAL PSYCHOLOGY 2016. [DOI: 10.1080/10407413.2016.1121735] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/22/2022]
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DeLucia PR, Preddy D, Oberfeld D. Audiovisual Integration of Time-to-Contact Information for Approaching Objects. Multisens Res 2016; 29:365-95. [DOI: 10.1163/22134808-00002520] [Citation(s) in RCA: 24] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/19/2022]
Abstract
Previous studies of time-to-collision (TTC) judgments of approaching objects focused on effectiveness of visual TTC information in the optical expansion pattern (e.g., visual tau, disparity). Fewer studies examined effectiveness of auditory TTC information in the pattern of increasing intensity (auditory tau), or measured integration of auditory and visual TTC information. Here, participants judged TTC of an approaching object presented in the visual or auditory modality, or both concurrently. TTC information provided by the modalities was jittered slightly against each other, so that auditory and visual TTC were not perfectly correlated. A psychophysical reverse correlation approach was used to estimate the influence of auditory and visual cues on TTC estimates. TTC estimates were shorter in the auditory than the visual condition. On average, TTC judgments in the audiovisual condition were not significantly different from judgments in the visual condition. However, multiple regression analyses showed that TTC estimates were based on both auditory and visual information. Although heuristic cues (final sound pressure level, final optical size) and more reliable information (relative rate of change in acoustic intensity, optical expansion) contributed to auditory and visual judgments, the effect of heuristics was greater in the auditory condition. Although auditory and visual information influenced judgments, concurrent presentation of both did not result in lower response variability compared to presentation of either one alone; there was no multimodal advantage. The relative weightings of heuristics and more reliable information differed between auditory and visual TTC judgments, and when both were available, visual information was weighted more heavily.
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Affiliation(s)
- Patricia R. DeLucia
- Department of Psychological Sciences, MS 2051, Texas Tech University, Lubbock, TX 79409-2051, USA
| | - Doug Preddy
- Department of Psychological Sciences, MS 2051, Texas Tech University, Lubbock, TX 79409-2051, USA
| | - Daniel Oberfeld
- Department of Psychology, Johannes Gutenberg-Universität, 55099 Mainz, Germany
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The effects of stereo disparity on the behavioural and electrophysiological correlates of perception of audio–visual motion in depth. Neuropsychologia 2015; 78:51-62. [DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2015.09.023] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/11/2015] [Revised: 09/09/2015] [Accepted: 09/15/2015] [Indexed: 11/18/2022]
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Landwehr K, Hecht H, Both B. Allocentric time-to-contact and the devastating effect of perspective. Vision Res 2014; 105:53-60. [DOI: 10.1016/j.visres.2014.08.022] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/19/2014] [Revised: 08/26/2014] [Accepted: 08/30/2014] [Indexed: 11/26/2022]
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Poulter DR, Wann JP. Errors in motion processing amongst older drivers may increase accident risk. ACCIDENT; ANALYSIS AND PREVENTION 2013; 57:150-156. [PMID: 23665357 DOI: 10.1016/j.aap.2013.03.031] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/18/2012] [Revised: 03/26/2013] [Accepted: 03/26/2013] [Indexed: 06/02/2023]
Abstract
Accident statistics highlight that older drivers are more frequently involved in right-of-way collisions than younger drivers. Accurately gauging vehicle speed is critical for judgement of when to pull out from a junction safely in front of oncoming traffic. We used psychophysical methods to measure drivers' ability to discriminate between different rates of looming presented by vehicles approaching at different speeds. We demonstrate that sensitivity to approach speed reduces by between 2.8 and 3.4 mph, dependent upon vehicle type, for every decade that age increases. We show that perceptual limitations for drivers over the age of 75 years can lead to a 50% reduction in time available to perform traffic manoeuvres, which may contribute in part to their overrepresentation in casualty statistics at junction. Results are discussed in terms of implications for road safety policy.
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Affiliation(s)
- Damian R Poulter
- University of Greenwich, Department of Psychology and Counselling, Avery Hill Road, Eltham, London SE9 2UG, United Kingdom.
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