Hexatown
Spatial behavior in humans includes a wide variety of behavioral competences that make use of many sensory cues, including vision. The visual input contains various cues about the observers current position (e.g., from views and local landmarks), the compass direction (e.g., provided by global landmarks, or a global slant), and egomotion (e.g., from optic flow). We performed several experiments in a virtual environment called ``Hexatown''. Hexatown consists of a regular hexagonal grid of streets and junctions. Each junction was identified by the presence of distinct `local landmarks' (buildings, phone box, etc.). Subjects navigate in Hexatown either by pressing the buttons of a computer mouse or with a force-feedback bicycle. According to their movement decisions, egomotion is simulated.