Effects of Selective Restriction of Central Vision on Walking Speed during Stair Descent

Abstract

This study aimed to investigate the effects of selective restriction of central vision on the walking speed while descending a standard staircase. An experiment was performed by using a newly developed experimental instrument for restricting the arbitrary area of the human visual field. Subjects descended a short staircase under different visual conditions wearing the experimental instruments. The main result of the experiment was that, in the beginning area that included the first and the second steps of the staircase, the walking speeds under the visual condition that the central vision was selectively restricted were significantly slower than the walking speed under the other visual condition. The results indicated that, for walking fast through the beginning area of the staircase, the central vision has to be intact for receiving certain specific visual information from the environment.