Proprioception and vision relationship in aimed movement with restricted and reversed vision

Abstract

Human movement relies on visual and proprioceptive inputs, and the movement can be hampered when either input provides limited or distorted information, as in robotic surgery, virtual reality, or spaceflight. This study examines how proprioception influences performance in aimed movement tasks under restricted and inverted visual conditions. An experiment with 24 participants showed slower movements and increased information processing demands with incompatible visual feedback. The difference was diminished when the proprioceptive variability was controlled through ANCOVA. The findings allude to the necessity of considering individual differences in proprioceptive ability when evaluating performance across different visual conditions. These results can help develop training protocols and design interfaces when visual and proprioception sensory feedback are incompatible. Also, continuous visual feedback of hand movement may not be necessary. Instead, a correctly sized visual window of the target is sufficient for aimed movement tasks. This result has practical implications, especially when optimizing VR renders.