An Objective Measurement of the Strength of Apparent Self-Motion with Optokinetic Nystagmus

Abstract

This paper was aimed to estimate the perceptual strength of visually induced self-motion perception (vection) by focusing on the beating field (BF) ofoptokinetic nystagmus (OKN). For this purpose we used an immersive type VR system which provided 3D visual stimuli for observers at the most of the entirely visual field. The BF during vection was found to displace to the perceived heading direction in proportion to the strength of vection. This displacement preceded the difference in the subjective estimation of the strength of vection between viewing conditions. Thus the strength of vection was estimated by measuring BF of OKN even before the actual observation of the subjective estimation of vection.