Action-based slant perception in real and virtual environments

An innovative action-based motoric measure of slant is proposed, based on gait. This measure is ecologically-valid derived from the angle that the foot makes in relation to the horizontal ground plane immediately before impact (Figure 1). This work explores whether the proposed measure is affected by factors such as material of the walking surface and inclination of the walking ramps. Moreover, experimental studies were conducted in a real environment set-up and in its virtual counterpart. Comparisons between real-world spatial judgments and simulation equivalents provide performance benchmarks as well as tools to assess whether a technological set-up would be of similar functional fidelity to a real-world task situation.