Detection of linear ego-acceleration from optic flow
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1
University of Tübingen, Deptartment of Psychology, Germany
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2
Universität Tübingen, Department of Biology, Germany
Human observers are able to estimate various ego-motion
parameters from optic flow, including rotation, translational
heading, time to collision (TTC), time to passage (TTP), etc. The
perception of linear ego-acceleration or deceleration, i.e. changes
of translational velocity, is less well understood. While
time-to-passage experiments indicate that ego-acceleration is
neglected, subjects are able to keep their (perceived) speed
constant under changing conditions, indicating that some sense of
ego-acceleration or velocity change must be present. In this paper,
we analyze the ego-acceleration perception and its relation to
geometrical parameters of the environment using simulated flights
through cylindrical and conic (narrowing or widening) corridors.
Theoretical analysis shows that a logarithmic ego-acceleration
parameter, called the acceleration rate rho, can be calculated
from retinal acceleration measurements. This parameter is
independent of the geometrical layout of the scene; if veridical
ego-motion is known at some instant in time, acceleration rate
allows to update ego-motion without further depth-velocity
calibration. Results indicate, however, that subjects
systematically confuse ego-acceleration with corridor narrowing and
ego-deceleration with corridor widening, while veridically judging
ego-acceleration in straight corridors. We conclude that judgments
of ego-acceleration are based on first order retinal flow, and do
not make use of acceleration rate or retinal acceleration.
Acknowledgements
The paper describes work performed at the Department of Biology, University of Tübingen. Additional support was provided by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) within the Tübingen Bernstein Center for Computational Neuroscience (Grant No 01GQ1002A)
Keywords:
egomotion perception,
motion,
Optic Flow,
structure from motion,
time to contact
Conference:
Bernstein Conference 2012, Munich, Germany, 12 Sep - 14 Sep, 2012.
Presentation Type:
Poster
Topic:
Sensory processing and perception
Citation:
Festl
F,
Recktenwald
F,
Yuan
C and
Mallot
HA
(2012). Detection of linear ego-acceleration from optic flow.
Front. Comput. Neurosci.
Conference Abstract:
Bernstein Conference 2012.
doi: 10.3389/conf.fncom.2012.55.00200
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Received:
11 May 2012;
Published Online:
12 Sep 2012.
*
Correspondence:
Prof. Hanspeter A Mallot, Universität Tübingen, Department of Biology, Tübingen, 72076, Germany, hanspeter.mallot@uni-tuebingen.de