Peripheality · Exploring the function of peripheral vision in humans using virtual reality
Horizon 2020 — Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions
- Duration
- 2018-10-02 → 2021-02-04
- EU contribution
- €151,649
- Participants
- 1
- Scheme
- MSCA-IF-EF-ST
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Results in brief
Exploring the function of peripheral vision in humans using virtual reality
The main aim of PERIPHEALITY was to study the functional significance of the peripheral visual field in humans. Although the human visual field extends almost 90 degrees on either side of fixation, visual perception studies throughout the years have focused primarily on central vision, (i.e., ~15° from the centre of gaze), overlooking the function and the potential importance of the peripheral visual field. In this project, positive and negative serial dependence (SD) effects were used as indicators of temporal continuity and change detection mechanisms respectively. SD refers to the blending of past stimulus information with the perception of a current stimulus, making the two perceptually more similar (positive effects) or dissimilar (negative effects) than they really are. SD effects have been observed in the central visual field under constrained experimental settings with a variety of stimuli. SD effects support the idea that the human visual system exploits the temporal redundancies of natural scenes through temporal integration to achieve perceptual stability. Four research-based Work Packages (WPs) and four scientific objectives we pursued in PERIPHEALITY: (1) To investigate SD effects across the visual field in realistic conditions using immersive virtual reality (VR) equipment, (2) to investigate how interrupting the temporal continuity of visual motion affects integration of past information with the present using realistic stimuli in VR environments, (3) to examine how visual functions relate to more complex human abilities and (4) to provide a comprehensive theoretical account explaining SD effects. To the best of our knowledge, this was the first experimental attempt examining SD effects across the visual field, extending into the periphery and in realistic environments. By adopting a highly interdisciplinary approach that combined classical psychophysics, VR and data modelling techniques, PERIPHEALITY provided insight into the basic mechanisms of human vision that achieve an equilibrium between visual stability and change detection over the whole visual field. The more nuisance understanding of the functions of the peripheral visual field gained through PERIPHEALITY helps to explain the difficulties faced by patients with peripheral visual field defects and to develop appropriate rehabilitation tools.
Data: CORDIS, © European Union
Project objective
The aim of this project is to determine the functional significance of the peripheral visual field for human perception and its interaction with the motor system. While it is well established that central vision serves to resolve the fine details of the visual world and the objects in it, the reduced spatial resolution in the peripheral part of our visual field suggests that peripheral vision may have a very different role. In this project we will use an innovative combination of Virtual Reality (VR) with physiological recordings and computational modelling to examine the hypothesis that the peripheral visual field acts as a change detection mechanism. Specifically, under conditions resembling those encountered in everyday life, we will explore the presence of serial dependency (SD) effects, i.e., the integration of past with current information during visual processing. These experiments will provide the first evidence that SD strategies are employed during everyday activities in complex environments in daily life, while the nature of the SD effects (i.e. positive vs. negative) will allow us to deduce differences in the functions of the central and peripheral visual system. Importantly, the experiments will also allow us to assess whether peripheral vision is involved in a multisensory and hypersensitive ""alarm system"", an idea that has recently been proposed in the literature. Finally, by employing computational modelling methods we will attempt to provide a comprehensive theoretical account for experimental findings. Overall, this interdisciplinary project is expected to provide important insight into the basic mechanisms of human vision that are responsible for maintaining the equilibrium between visual stability and change detection over the whole visual field.""
Original text from CORDIS.
Participants
- UNIVERSITY OF CYPRUS · NicosiaCoordinatorCyprus
Links
Data: CORDIS, © European Union