Effects of Depth Perception on Performance of Simulated Materials Handling Tasks

Abstract

A series of experiments were performed using ft laboratory simulation of a fork-lift truck setting task. In general, the same effects were observed as found in an another study using fork-lift trucks except that the direction of errors was reversed, showing a reversal of movement relationships in the simulator. The visual angle between the drivers' direction of motion and his line of sight to the target had a large effect on performance times and error rates. When this angle was less than 12°, both times and errors increased sharply. Performance times at different movement amplitudes and target widths were a linear function of an Index of Difficulty except for target widths of less than 2% of the amplitude. Subject age and experience of fork-lift truck driving had a significant effect of performance. Augmentation of vision using a closed circuit television display was beneficial to performance, reducing times by 14% and errors by 52% showing that this is an economic proposition for materials handling vehicles.

Notes

∗ Now at Dept. of Industrial Engineering, SUNY at Buffalo.

† Now at University of Aston in Birmingham, U.K.