Pictorial communication in virtual and real environments Pictorial communication in virtual and real environments Edited by Stephen R.Ellis NASA Ames Research Center and University of California, Berkeley, USA Section Editor Mary K.Kaiser NASA Ames Research Center, USA Assistant Section Editor Arthur C.Grunwald Technion, Israel Taylor & Francis London • New York • Philadelphia UK Taylor & Francis Ltd, 4 John St, London WC1N 2ET USA Taylor & Francis Inc., 1900 Frost Road, Suite 101, Bristol, PA 19007 This edition published in the Taylor & Francis e-Library, 2005. “To purchase your own copy of this or any of Taylor & Francis or Routledge's collection of thousands of eBooks please go to www.eBookstore.tandf.co.uk.” Copyright © Taylor & Francis Ltd. 1991 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, electrostatic, magnetic tape, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the copyright owner. British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data Pictorial communication in virtual and real environments 1. Graphic displays. I. Ellis, Stephen R. II.Kaiser, Mary K. III. Grunwald, Arthur C. 006.6 ISBN 0-203-22127-3 Master e-book ISBN ISBN 0-203-27591-8 (Adobe eReader Format) ISBN 0-74840-008-7 (Print Edition) Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data is available Contents Foreword J.Koenderink viii Part I Environments 1 Prologue S.R.Ellis 3 1 Physics at the edge of the Earth J.P.Allen 12 2 Pictorial communication: pictures and the synthetic universe S.R.Ellis 22 Part II Knowing 45 Introduction to Knowing M.K.Kaiser 47 3 Perceiving environmental properties from motion information: minimal conditions D.R.Proffitt and M.K.Kaiser 51 4 Distortions in memory for visual displays B.Tversky 65 5 Cartography and map displays G.F.McCleary Jr. , G.F.Jenks and S.R.Ellis 81 6 Interactive displays in medical art D.A.McConathy and M.Doyle 105 7 Efficiency of graphical perception G.E.Legge , Y.Gu and A.Luebker 119 8 Volumetric visualization of 3D data G.Russell and R.Miles 140 9 The making of the The Mechanical Universe J.Blinn 147 Part III Acting 166 Introduction to Acting A.C.Grunwald 168 Vehicular control 10 Spatial displays as a means to increase pilot situational awareness D.M.Fradden , R.Braune and J.Wiedemann 181 11 Experience and results in teleoperation of land vehicles D.E.McGovern 191 12 A computer graphics system for visualizing spacecraft in orbit D.E.Eyles 206 13 Design and evaluation of a visual display aid for orbital maneuvering A.J.Grunwald and S.R.Ellis 217 Manipulative control 14 Telepresence, time delay and adaptation R.Held and N.Durlach 243 15 Multi-axis control in telemanipulation and vehicle guidance G.M.McKinnon and R.V.Kruk 258 16 Visual enhancements in pick-and-place tasks: human operators controlling a simulated cylindrical manipulator W.S.Kim , F.Tendick and L.Stark 276 Visual/motor mapping and adaptation 17 Target axis effects under transformed visual-motor mappings H.A.Cunningham and M.Pavel 295 18 Adapting to variable prismatic displacement R.B.Welch and M.M.Cohen 308 19 Visuomotor modularity, ontogeny and training high-performance skills with spatial instruments W.L.Shebilske 318 20 Separate visual representations for perception and for visually guided behavior B.Bridgeman 329 21 Seeing by exploring R.L.Gregory 340 Orientation 22 Spatial vision within egocentric and exocentric frames of reference I.P.Howard 350 23 Comments on “Spatial vision within egocentric and exocentric frames of reference” T.Heckmann and R.B.Post 371 24 Sensory conflict in motion sickness: an Observer Theory approach C.M.Oman 374 25 Interactions of form and orientation H.Mittelstaedt 389 26 Optical, gravitational and kinesthetic determinants of judged eye level A.E.Stoper and M.M.Cohen 404 27 Voluntary influences on the stabilization of gaze during fast head movements W.H.Zangemeister 419 Part IV Seeing 432 Introduction to Seeing S.R.Ellis 434 Pictorial space 28 The perception of geometrical structure from congruence J.S.Lappin and T.D.Wason 440 29 The perception of three-dimensionality across continuous surfaces K.A.Stevens 463 30 The effects of viewpoint on the virtual space of pictures H.A.Sedgwick 474 31 Perceived orientation, spatial layout and the geometry of pictures E.B.Goldstein 495 32 On the efficacy of cinema, or what the visual system did not evolve to do J.E.Cutting 501 33 Visual slant underestimation J.A.Perrone and P.Wenderoth 511 34 Direction judgement error in computer generated displays and actual scenes S.R.Ellis , S.Smith , A.Grunwald and M.W.McGreevy 520 35 How to reinforce perception of depth in single two-dimensional pictures S.Nagata 543 Primary depth cues 36 Spatial constraints of stereopsis in video displays C.Schor 564 37 Stereoscopic distance perception J.M.Foley 577 38 Paradoxical monocular stereopsis and perspective vergence J.T.Enright 586 39 The eyes prefer real images S.N.Roscoe 596 Index 606 Foreword Jan Koenderink Rijks Universiteit Utrecht The Netherlands According to the philosopher Kant, space and time are the very form of the human mind. We cannot but perceive and think spatio-temporally. Moreover, we also depend heavily on spatio-temporal expertise for plain survival, something the human holds in common with most animal species. Such vital crafts as orientation, navigation, homing, manipulation, recognition and communication are to a large extent facets of optically guided behavior. Perhaps paradoxically, modern man relies even more heavily on the senses than his ancestor roving the woods and plains. The reason is the information overload of the senses. The speed and complexity of the required response in such contemporary tasks as driving a vehicle or controlling an industrial plant greatly taxes our sensori-motor coordination. Hence, many professions have developed in which humans are well paid for their well coordinated sensori-motor skills. Many novel cultural artifacts have been invented to help us carry out such tasks. We witness a new technology developing explosively. It is a curious fact that the science and technology of instrumented aiding of optically- guided spatial behavior is still in its infancy. This field is actually scattered over many scientific and engineering disciplines with only weak mutual couplings. The present volume is indeed a very timely one, and will be useful to both the professional and the newcomer alike. I know of no textbook that covers the area to this breadth. The book presents a veritable bird’s-eye view and is a very useful “inventory” for people entering the field, while almost certainly providing some eye-openers even to the pro. It can also be used as a valuable entrance to an extensive, but very scattered literature. The book has exciting sections on optically guided behavior in exotic and alien environments, such as extraterrestrial space or telepresence, where the human senses cannot rely on evolutionary acquired expertise. In such environments mismatches between the various sensori-motor subsystems are likely, and indeed lead to severe problems. Moreover, some kind of “recalibration” of the senses is called for. Novel technologies require novel methods of information transfer. Classical methods like maps (Chapter 5) and pictures (Chapter 2) have to be developed much further and have to be augmented with completely novel displays and instruments. It is apparent from the book that this is not just the case in extreme environments (Chapters 12–13), but equally in such settings as medical diagnostics (Chapter 6) or traffic control. The new technology depends heavily on the resources of real time machines that can handle the enormous data volumes pertaining to spatio-temporal structure. The near future will show tremendous progress in machines, and the science of pictorial representation should be ready for it. In many complex systems the human operator remains a vital link. In practice it is often the weakest in the chain. Now, it is no longer realistic to train a human to fit a machine. Since machines have become so flexible, they can be tailored to exploit the human abilities to the full extent. A fundamental understanding of human abilities and idiosyncrasies is necessary, but only fragments exist. The book has most interesting sections on these issues, hard to find elsewhere. They range from problems of sensory miscalibration, perceptual exploration and misrepresentation to issues of sensorimotor tuning (Chapters 14–18). A most important issue, also present in the book, is the use of novel technology to improve the data-rate and precision of interhuman communication, where conventional language is supplanted by various pictorial means. The real problems are not of a technological nature, but lie in our limited understanding of human perceptual and conceptual competence. An important example is our limited ability to appreciate the world from other than egocentric frames (Chapter 34). Aside from being highly informative, reading through the book is also an intellectual pleasure because of the extremely interdisciplinary and richly interconnected material. I wish the reader a good time.