Open AccessReal and visually-induced body inclination differently affect the perception of object stability
Author(s) -
Rafaël Laboissière,
Pierre Alain Barraud,
Corinne Cian
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
plos one
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.99
H-Index - 332
ISSN - 1932-6203
DOI - 10.1371/journal.pone.0186431
Subject(s) - tilt (camera) , perception , orientation (vector space) , object (grammar) , stability (learning theory) , physics , computer vision , motion perception , sensory cue , visual perception , center of gravity , artificial intelligence , geodesy , computer science , psychology , motion (physics) , mathematics , geometry , geology , neuroscience , management , machine learning , economics
The prediction of object stability on earth requires the establishment of a perceptual frame of reference based on the direction of gravity. Across three experiments, we measured the critical angle (CA) at which an object appeared equally likely to fall over or right itself. We investigated whether the internal representation of the gravity direction, biased by either simulated tilt (rotating visual surround) or real body tilt situations, influences in a similar fashion the judgment of stability. In the simulated tilt condition, the estimated CA and the perceived gravity are both deviated in the same direction. In the real tilt condition, the orientation of the body affects the perception of gravity direction but has no effect on the estimated CA. Results suggest that people differently weigh gravity direction information provided by visual motion and by visual polarity cues for estimating the stability of objects.