Second-Order Motion is Less Efficient at Modulating Vection Strength

Visually induced illusions of self-motion (vection) are often induced using constant velocity optic flow. However, adding simulated viewpoint jitter and oscillation to these displayscan significantly improve the vection experience (especially when this jitter/oscillation is orthogonal to the constant flow component - Nakamura, 2010; Palmisano et al., 2008). In the present experiment, we found that vection was only facilitated when luminance-, but not contrast-, defined vertical oscillatory motion was added to the constant horizontal display motion (even though observers clearly reported seeing both the oscillatory and constant display motions in both conditions). These findings demonstrate that the vection enhancement provided by simulated viewpoint oscillation is not simply based on the perceived display motion. (C) Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, 2012