Effects of Tactile and Audio Cues on Reducing Vestibular Illusions

摘要

The effect of multisensory cues (3-D, audio, tactile belt) to overcome a vestibular illusion in a rotating Barany Chair was investigated. Seated subjects were rotated about their spinal axis (Z axis) from a standing stop to a predetermined velocity. The acceleration experienced by the subjects as they changed velocity caused their semi-circular canals to react which they sensed as a rotation. When the chair was slowed, or stopped, the direction of the acceleration cue reversed and the subjects sensed a false rotation in the opposite direction. This illusion, called the somatogyral illusion, can occur in flight. The purpose of this research was to see if multisensory countermeasures could be applied to the subjects that would reduce or eliminate the false rotation. The 3-D audio countermeasure proved to be successful in reducing the velocity of the chair's rotation and the tactile belt countermeasure produced the highest success rating among the subjects.