Investigating Sensorimotor Contingencies in the Enactive Interface

Abstract

Sensorimotor theories of perception have been widely investigated in the context of the perceiver’s normal environment, but not in the context of virtual environments. There are clearly identified differences between perception of pictures and that of a real-world environment, but these differences have not been studied in the light of sensorimotor theory. Nagel et al.’s studies of sensory augmentation included a trial of their feelSpace belt in a computer-game environment, but with inconclusive results. We propose that the sensorimotor contingencies that apply in the context of a virtual environment are significantly different from those in the ‘real world’, and might account for the differences found between ‘normal’ and picture perception. Building on Froese et al.’s work on Enactive Interfaces, and on Visell’s structure for sensory substitution, we consider how interfacing a sensory augmentation device with a computer game environment might provide the basis for fruitful research in this area.