Multisensory enhancement for cost-effective motion simulators
Poster Presentation

Aleksander Väljamäe
Chalmers Room Acoustics Group, Chalmers university of Technology

Ana Tajadura
Chalmers Room Acoustics Group, Chalmers university of Technology

Pontus Larsson
Chalmers Room Acoustics Group, Chalmers university of Technology

Daniel Västfjäll
Chalmers Room Acoustics Group, Chalmers university of Technology

Mendel Kleiner
Chalmers Room Acoustics Group, Chalmers university of Technology

     Abstract ID Number: 159
     Full text: Not available
     Last modified: March 19, 2006
     Presentation date: 06/19/2006 10:00 AM in Hamilton Building, Foyer
     (View Schedule)

Abstract
The sensation of illusory self-motion (vection) and presence can be reliably elicited in motion simulators with large visual displays. However, many low-cost multimedia applications use smaller screens and therefore might benefit from multisensory enhancement of motion simulation. The current psychophysical study represents the evaluation of a low-cost motion simulator prototype for the POEMS (Perceptually Oriented Ego-Motion Simulation) project. In this study we examined the feasibility of eliciting self-motion sensation using a visual display with a small field-of-view (FOV: 37H x 30V deg). To compensate for reduced visually-induced vection, rotating scenes were enhanced by concurrent presentation of additional multisensory cues (vibrating seat, spatial sound delivered via stereo bone conduction headset) and manipulation of viewing conditions (restricted FOV). Our findings demonstrate that multisensory cues make feasible self-motion simulation with a small visual display. These findings may be implemented in commercially available multimedia technologies (e.g. computer games, low-cost motion simulators).