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Abstract

This study investigated the role of specific visual cues (optic flow and/or horizon) and body cues associated with whole-body rotation in a helicopter stabilization task. The experiment was performed on a Stewart motion platform equipped with a projection screen. Participants were asked to stabilize a simulated helicopter at a target position under different cue conditions. The target position and the helicopter were represented by spheres on an invisible ground plane below the observer. Participants controlled the pitch and roll of the helicopter, while yaw rotations and height were controlled automatically.
Despite large individual differences, we found that body motion cues were the most effective cues for stabilization, followed by horizon cues and finally optic flow. In general, the combination of several cues improved the stabilization further. This supports the hypothesis that in general different cues are integrated for stabilization. However, some participants demonstrated poorer stabilization capabilities in some conditions when more cues were added. In particular, for those participants, it was typically the case that stabilization with only a horizon was better than stabilization with a horizon plus optic flow. We argue that those participants might change their control strategy depending upon the available cues.