Innovative techniques measure perception of up and down
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TORONTO, January 27, 2005 -- Outer space is set to become increasingly user-friendly for astronauts, thanks to York University Psychology Professor Laurence Harris and a team of researchers at York’s Centre for Vision Research (CVR). 
Harris’ team is studying ways to combat the disorientation often experienced by astronauts in zero-gravity environments – both inside and outside spacecraft.
“In order to distinguish up from down, the brain takes cues from vision, the inner ear, and internal
representations of the body,” Harris says.
Right: CVR researcher Richard Dyde in the “sideways room” at York University
“When in outer space, astronauts become confused by the unusual combination of sensory information, and can only rely on visual cues for information. We’re looking at ways we can enhance these cues.”
Methods under consideration for use on board the International Space Station and other spacecraft include moving imagery – a TV screen displaying video footage of a waterfall, for example – to unobtrusively orient those inside.
While tethered to their vessels and floating in outer space, astronauts are often plagued by the sensation that they are falling. Harris’ solution could incorporate the projection of spatially-orienting imagery onto the inside of an astronaut’s visor, or the use of markings on the outside of spacecraft.
An inventive tool used by CVR researchers is a room that is completely sideways. This “sideways room,” is versatile in that subjects can either stand vertically or lie down, in which case the room appears to be visually normal.
The room affords Harris the unique opportunity to study movements of the eye in relation to spatial orientation, via use of video-oculography. Subjects don a helmet with reflectors arranged so that tiny video cameras can record the position of the eyes as the subject moves – all the while remaining invisible to the wearer.
“By analyzing this datum, we’re able to figure out what the brain thinks is going on,” Harris says.
His research, being done in collaboration with MIT, also has potential applications for those with damage to the inner ear.
The four-year project is sponsored by the Canadian Space Agency and the National Space Biomedical Research Institute (NSBRI), a division of NASA.
York University is the leading interdisciplinary research and teaching university in Canada. York offers a modern, academic experience at the undergraduate and graduate level in Toronto, Canada’s most international city. The third largest university in the country, York is host to a dynamic academic community of 50,000 students and 7,000 faculty and staff, as well as 180,000 alumni worldwide. York’s 10 faculties and 21 research centres conduct ambitious, groundbreaking research that is interdisciplinary, cutting across traditional academic boundaries. This distinctive and collaborative approach is preparing students for the future and bringing fresh insights and solutions to real-world challenges.
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To book a time for a demonstration / interview, please contact:
Melissa Hughes, Media Relations, York University, 416-736-2100 x22097/ mehughes@yorku.ca
