The perception of self-motion and object-motion detection are usually studied as separate problems, both in experimental and applied research. However, there are empirical data that suggest a link between these two variables. Specifically, the global optical flow generated by self-motion seems to affect the perception of object-motion (segmentation problem), with an increment of the detection time; but the exact amount of time needed to detect a change in the relative velocity of a leading car, the precise impact of the inhibitory effects related with self-motion velocity and with optical flow structure, are still not very well known. This is due mostly to methodological problems of previous research. In this paper we present empirical data, collected from a laboratory experiment on the detection of vehicle approach movement.
Abstract