Using Perceived Rotational Gain to Elicit a Lasting Effect within the CAVE2

The objective in doing this experiment was to test whether or not basic visual discrepancies as created between the visual display within the CAVE2 and one’s reality can induce an adaptive effect. Specifically, this experiment studied the consequences of exposure to a rotational gain that made it appear as though the subjects were rotating a different amount visually than they actually were physically and thus they followed a different path in the virtual world than they did in reality. Some subjects were exposed to a rotational gain of 2/3 [actual movement/visual movement] and some were exposed to a gain of 1 which was intended to simulate reality. In both cases the subjects’ before and after behavior were recorded and the resulting change was analyzed. The data that was acquired from this procedure gave reasonable evidence that there was in fact an effect generated in the subjects who were exposed to the 2/3 gain and no effect created in controls that experienced a gain of 1. The effect that was seen indicated that post-exposure subjects favored making larger turns after than they did before exposure which can be interpreted as a reweighing of reliance on proprioceptive input versus visual input.