Research Facilities
Moving room
The
primary facility is the "moving room". This is a large box, 2.4 meters
on a side, that is mounted on wheels so that it rolls back and forth
along rails. Three sides of the box and the ceiling are covered with
plywood, the inside surface of which is covered with a complex,
naturalistic visual pattern (marble-pattern paper). The fourth side is
open, providing access. Experimental participants stand on the concrete
floor of the laboratory with their backs to the open side, so that the
walls and ceiling fill the field of view. Movement of the room generates
nearly global optical flow, which constitutes the experimental stimulus.
The maximum amplitude of motion is 0.6 meters.
The original moving room was developed by David Lee in Scotland. It was moved by hand, or by a simple electric motor. The moving room in the Human Factors Research Lab is moved by a highly powered motor under computer control. This gives us great control over room motion, in terms of velocity, acceleration, frequency, and so on. It also permits us to produce motions that can be precisely repeated across trials.
The moving room is a versatile device that can be used for a wide variety of research topics, including human-computer interaction, and motion sickness.
The moving room is undergoing a refurbishment and mechanical upgrade to improve its operating characteristics and to reduce structural vibration. Major components of the room are being replaced, including the rails, wheels, and the room itself. These changes will improve operation, in general, but are particularly targeted at our upcoming, NIH-funded research on motion sickness.
Head Mounted Display
The
Head Mounted Display (HMD) lab features a Visette Pro HMD system (Cybermind
Interactive Nederland), which has a field of view of 60 by 48 degrees
for each eye, and 300,000 pixels. Data on motion of the head and torso
are collected using a magnetic tracking system (Nest of Birds, Ascension
Technology Corp.). Data on joint rotation (hips, ankles) can be
collected using goniometers (Biopac Systems, Inc.). The HMD is used
primarily for the study of postural instability and
motion sickness in
virtual environment systems. Motion sickness in virtual environment
systems, widely known as cybersickness, is a persistent problem that has
hampered the development and use of HMD technology.
Console Video Games
The APAL maintains Xbox 360 and Wii systems for our research relating postural instability and motion sickness to commercial virtual environment products.
Video games can be presented via our head-mounted display system, through ordinary CRT video monitors, via a video projection system, or through our new 65-inch plasma flat panel display.
Data Collection Systems
The following are housed in the laboratory:
- Force plate (AccuSwayPlus, AMTI)
- Electro-goniometers, and electro-myography (Biopac, Inc.)
- Magnetic tracking systems (Polhemus, Inc.; Ascension Technology Corp.).
- Synchronization of data collection through different technologies is accomplished using a Motion Monitor (Innovative Sports Training, Inc.).
In addition, APAL is a stakeholder in a 9-camera digital video motion capture system (SMART, BTS Bioengineering)