Prolonged Aftereffect of Visuomotor Adaptation to Gradually Distorted Reality Displayed on a See-Through Head-Mounted Device

ABSTRACT

Growing evidence suggests that the gradual transformation of visuomotor association drives a distinct learning process from abrupt transformation in humans. In the current study, we developed a novel omnidirectional visuomotor transformation paradigm to study details of such difference in more realistic environment than conventional experimental systems. Participants were asked to perform a repetitive three-dimensional (3D) arm-reaching task to a target on a front touch panel, wearing a video see-through head-mounted device that displayed a rotating view of surrounding images. In the abrupt condition, the images were rotated by 20°; in the gradual condition, the rotation was increased in a stepwise-manner from 0° to 20°. In both conditions, pointing errors were decreased after adaptation. Further, although the aftereffect of adaptation was not different between conditions, the speed of decay of the aftereffect, which was quantified by an exponential fit, was slower in the gradual condition, suggesting longer-lasting aftereffects for the gradual shift.

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank Sayoko Ishii and Kumi Nanjo for their assistance during the research.

Disclosure of potential conflicts of interest

The authors declare that there are no conflicts of interest associated with this manuscript.

Additional information

Funding

Part of this study was supported by the Keio Institute of Pure and Applied Sciences (KiPAS) Research Program, and JST CREST Grant Number 17942091, Japan.

Notes on contributors

Shoko Kasuga

Shoko Kasuga is a Research associate of Graduate School of Science and Technology, Keio University. She received a Ph.D. degree at Graduate School of Education, The University of Tokyo in 2012.

Ryota Mori

Ryota Mori is a Master’s student of Graduate School of Science and Technology, Keio University. He received a B.Sc degree at Faculty of Science and Technology, Keio University in 2017.

Shunichi Kasahara

Shunichi Kasahara is an Associate researcher of Sony Computer Science Laboratories, Inc. He received a Ph.D. degree at Interfaculty Initiative in Information Studies, The University of Tokyo in 2017.

Junichi Rekimoto

Junichi Rekimoto is a Professor of Interfaculty Initiative in Information Studies, The University of Tokyo. He received a Ph.D. degree at Graduate School of Information Science, Tokyo Institute of Technology in 1996.

Junichi Ushiba

Junichi Ushiba is an Associate professor of Faculty of Science and Technology, Keio University. He received a Ph.D. degree at Graduate School of Science and Technology, Keio University in 2004.