Motor adaptation in response to scaling and diminished feedback in virtual reality

David M. Krum, Thai Phan, Sin-Hwa Kang

Abstract: As interaction techniques involving scaling of motor space in virtual reality are becoming more prevalent, it is important to understand how individuals adapt to such scalings and how they re-adapt back to non-scaled norms. This preliminary work examines how individuals, performing a targeted ball throwing task, adapted to addition and removal of a translational scaling of the ball's forward flight. This was examined under various conditions: flight of the ball shown with no delay, hidden flight of the ball with no delay, and hidden flight with a 2 second delay. Hiding the ball's flight, as well as the delay, created disruptions in the ability of the participants to perform the task and adapt to new scaling conditions.