Allocation of Attention Affects Perceived Heading Direction with Transparent Flow Fields

Abstract

Transparent motion occurs whenever dynamic HUD or HMD symbology is overlaid on the scene available through the windscreen. Psychophysical research has shown that two-dimensional transparent motion can produce systematic errors in perceived motion direction. In two experiments, we examined: a) whether transparent radial expansion patterns that accompany observer motion and specify heading direction are subject to such errors, b) whether attentional allocation to different motion components affects these errors, and c) whether these errors can result in inappropriate control input. We found that significant errors in perception of heading direction do occur for transparent radial expansion patterns, that attentional allocation influences these errors, and that these errors result in inappropriate control input.