Seeing and Acting in a Virtual World PSY 341K Class hours: Tues, Thurs Room 4-242, SEAY Instructor: Professor Mary Hayhoe SEAY Room X Office hours: Anytime by appointment TA: Sucharit Katyal SEAY Room 4.138G X Web Site:

Organization 1. Four experiments, approximately 3 weeks each. 2. Background lectures, data collection, analysis, presentation; emphasis on class discussion. 3. Groups of Requirements: 4 papers, 2 exams (short answer), attendance/participation/presentations. 5. Readings/lectures etc on web site.

The great unsolved problem: How does the brain control behavior? Phrenology Localization of function

Even simple actions involve many parts of the brain. action plan Size, direction velocity motivation signals to muscles coordinate feedback respiration heart rate memory Initiate sequence targeting

Classical Methods What are the physical limits of Vision?

How accurate are eye movements? What is the peak velocity? What brain regions control eye movements? A Typical Experiment

Why do some objects “pop out”? An Experiment on Searching for Objects

And why are they sometimes hard to find?

Questions we might like to ask: Where do we look in a scene in everyday life? What information do we need? How do we locate the information we need? How are the movements controlled?

Why virtual reality? Technological advances: 1. measurement of complex eye, head, hand movements 2. high speed image processing allows complex virtual environments that can be controlled experimentally 3. head mounted displays, tactile feedback Natural behavior unexplored. Need to validate (or not) results from simpler paradigms. The CPS Virtual Reality Lab – a unique opportunity

What you’ll learn - Basic properties of perception, movements, and attention - Understanding the research process: the question, design of experiments, data analysis, making conclusions, communication. - Original contributions/ discoveries. Thinking independently.

Difficult things about this course - no good text - fragmentary - lack of background - data analysis - presentations

DateTopic Jan 19 Overview of the course: understanding human actions Introduction to Virtual Reality lab. Jan 21Using our Eyes in Everyday Tasks: Lecture: The nervous system, vision, and motor control. The eye and eye movements Rosenbaum Ch 5, Land paper. Jan 26Lab: tracking the eyes while catching balls. Jan 28Lab: tracking the eyes. Feb 2 Lecture: Interpreting the data Feb 4Discussion of Findings/ class presentations

Feb 9Interdependence of Vision and Action: Lecture Paper 1 due (Rosenbaum, Ch 1, p 1-25) Feb 11 Vision and movement. (Rosenbaum Ch 2) Feb 16 Lab: Reaching for virtual objects Rosenbaum Ch 6 Feb 18Lab: ctd Feb 23Understanding the data Feb 25Discussion of Findings / class presentations Mar 2 ReviewPaper 2 due Mar 4Mid-term

Mar 09Learning Visuo-Motor Relationships: lecture Mar 11Lecture Mar 16, 18 Spring Break Mar 23 LabHitting a virtual ball Mar 25Lab: ctd Mar 30Discussion of Outcome Apr 1Class Presentations

Apr 6 Attention & Vision: Lecture Paper 3 due Apr 8 Lecture: attention and eye movements in natural environments Apr 13 Lab: Walking in a Virtual Apartment Apr 15 Lab: ctd Apr 20Understanding the data Apr 22Class presentations Apr 27 Lecture: Uses of virtual environments Apr 29Review May 4Review May 6 Final ExamPaper 4 due

Grading: Papers 1-4: 15% each. Midterm and Final: 15% each; Attendance: 5%; Presentations and class discussion: 5%) Papers: 7-10 pages (typewritten, double spaced) reporting the results of the lab experiments. Exams - short answer questions. Midterm: first half of course. Final: second half of the course Exams cover : class material, labs, and readings.