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Project Leaders
Phone: +49 7071 601-643
Fax: +49 7071 601-616
sebastiaan.destigter[at]tuebingen.mpg.de
Group membersFive most Publications
Barnett-Cowan M  , Meilinger T , Vidal M , Teufel H and Bülthoff HH (May-2012) MPI CyberMotion Simulator: Implementation of a Novel Motion Simulator to Investigate Multisensory Path Integration in Three Dimensions
Journal of Visualized Experiments 63(5) 1-6. 
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, Beykirch K , Campos JL and (April-2012) Smooth Pursuit Eye Movement Adaptation in High Level Gymnasts
Motor Control 16(2) 176-194.
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Nesti A , Barnett-Cowan M , MacNeilage P and Bülthoff HH (January-2012): Differential Thresholds for Vertical Motion, 22nd Okulomotoriktreffen Zürich-München (ZüMü 2012), Zürich, Switzerland.
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Nesti A and (September-24-2011): Instrumentation for the evaluation of the centro-cecal axis rotation to assess static ocular torsion, Max Planck Institute for Biological Cybernetics, Tübingen, Germany. |
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, Nesti A , , , , and (September-2011) A new device to assess static ocular torsion
Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences 1233 226-230.
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Motion Perception in Vehicle Simulation
In the Motion Perception in Vehicle Simulation research group we aim at establishing a new approach to motion simulation. Our focus is on reproducing the perception of motion, rather than the physical motion. This allows to make better use of the simulators' operational space to increase the impression of realism.
Current generation motion drive algorithms (MDAs) focus on the fidelity of physical motion rendering, within the limited physical operating space of the simulators. However, in many cases the generated motion can result in unrealistic sensation and in extreme cases can lead to motion sickness. Current motion simulators have attained very high motion fidelity, but still, this does not always result in a highly realistic motion sensation: sometimes it does not "feel right"!
One of the main activities of our group is to develop an alternative, human-centered, approach to motion cueing. This approach aims to bring the impression of generated motion as close as possible to reality by implementing psychophysical laws of perception into the control framework of the simulators. The goal is to design generic motion drive algorithms which can be applied to different simulator types and vehicle models. The motion drive algorithms will be experimentally compared to the traditional algorithms in driving and flying scenarios.
The research group consists of people from various backgrounds, including: Aerospace and Biomedical engineering, Biology, Computer science, Mathematics, Neurobiolology, Psychology, Robotics. We attempt to bridge the gap between fundamental research and needs of industry by developing proof-of-concept solutions.
Main research areas
The motions of our simulators are developed to reproduce the perception associated to the physical motion, without the need to always accurately reproduce the physical motion itself. Therefore the relation between physical stimuli and the perception thereof needs to be accurately described and modeled. The relation is complex as humans integrate data from various senses (e.g. visual, vestibular, auditory, etc.) when moving in a natural environment.
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Motion compression
The motion cueing moved the simulator such that it creates a believable vehicle motion to the driver/pilot, while optimally exploiting the simulator operation range within its physical limitation. Because the physical motion of simulators are limited, we need to compress the motion, without distorting the perception. The research group is designing motion compression algorithms based on human sensitivity for motion to maximize compression, without losing motion simulator realism.
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Psychophysical validation
To test the effectiveness of the newly developed motion compression algorithms we run comparative testing with conventional motion cue algorithms using human-in-the-loop experiments. The experiments will be run for both automotive and aeronautical simulation using the various simulator platforms at MPI, including CyberMotion Simulator.
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Research equipment
The combination of the human visual and vestibular senses form the most predominant contributions to human motion perception. To replicate real-world vehicle motions accurately, synchronized recordings of wide-field stereo video and inertial measurements are essential. As no off-the-shelf systems are available to carry out these measurements the research group in-house develops the required methods record, synchronize and store this information. The inertial measurements are carried out by a number of accelerometers to measure linear accelerations and a number of ring-laser gyro's to measure angular velocities.
In simulating motion, subjects need to be stimulated with physical motions with will give the perception of true motion. MPI has a number of motions simulators, of which our research group uses two in particular. the CyberMotion Simulator and the MotionLab. For our research work, we make use of a wide-angle stereoscopic projection (eyevis, INFITEC) to visually immerse the subjects.
Realistic controls are an important aspect of vehicle simulation. Our research group makes use of the state-of-the-art control loading devices. For driving simulations, we make use of controls by Sensodrive, whereas for simulated helicopter-flight we make use of Wittenstein devices.
Funding
BMBF), trough the funding program "Validierung des Innovationspotenzials wissenschaftlicher Forschung" (VIP), and the Max-Planck Society (MPG). More details on the WABS project at BMBF can be found here.Selected Publications
Berthoz A, Bles W, Bülthoff HH , Correia Gracio B, Feenstra P, Filliard N, Huhne R, Kemeny A, Mayrhofer M, Mulder M, Nusseck HG, Pretto P , Reymond G, Schlüsselberger R, Schwandtner J, Teufel H , Vailleau B, van Paassen M, Vidal M, Wentink M (2012) High-performance motion cueing for driving simulators -. submitted.
Beykirch K , Barnett-Cowan M , Zaichik L, Bos J, Ledegang W (2011) Development of add-on perception model. SUPRA Report 4.3, Simulation of Upset Recovery in Aviation (SUPRA), EU Grant 233543.
Nesti A , Masone C , Barnett-Cowan M , Robuffo Giordano P , Bülthoff HH , Pretto P (2012) Roll rate thresholds and perceived realism in driving simulation. Driving Simulation Conference 2012. Paris, France (submitted).
Soyka F , Robuffo Giordano P , Beykirch K and Bülthoff HH (March-2011) Predicting direction detection thresholds for arbitrary translational acceleration profiles in the horizontal plane Experimental Brain Research 209(1) 95-107.
Teufel HJ , Nusseck H-G , Beykirch KA , Butler JS , Kerger M and Bülthoff HH (August-2007) MPI Motion Simulator: Development and Analysis of a Novel Motion Simulator AIAA Modeling and Simulation Technologies Conference and Exhibit 2007, American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Reston, VA, USA, 1-11.