One major benefit of wearable computers is that users can naturally move and explore computer-mediated realities. However, researchers often observe that users' space and motion perception severely differ in such environments compared to the real world, an effect that is often attributed to slight discrepancies in sensory cues, for instance, caused by tracking inaccuracy or system latency. This is particularly true for virtual reality (VR), but such conflicts are also inherent to augmented reality (AR) technologies. Although, head-worn displays will become more and more available soon, the effects on motion perception have rarely been studied, and techniques to modify self-motion in AR environments have not been leveraged so far. In this paper we introduce the concept of computer-mediated optic flow, and analyze its effects on self-motion perception in AR environments. First, we introduce different techniques to modify optic flow patterns and velocity. We present a psychophysical experiment which reveals differences in self-motion perception with a video see-through head-worn display compared to the real-world viewing condition. We show that computer-mediated optic flow has the potential to make a user perceive self-motion as faster or slower than it actually is, and we discuss its potential for future AR setups.

Motion perception in immersive virtual environments significantly differs from the real world. For example, previous work has shown that users tend to underestimate travel distances in virtual environments (VEs). As a solution to this problem, researchers proposed to scale the mapped virtual camera motion relative to the tracked real-world movement of a user until real and virtual motion are perceived as equal, i.e., real-world movements could be mapped with a larger gain to the VE in order to compensate for the underestimation. However, introducing discrepancies between real and virtual motion can become a problem, in particular, due to misalignments of both worlds and distorted space cognition. In this paper, we describe a different approach that introduces apparent self-motion illusions by manipulating optic flow fields during movements in VEs. These manipulations can affect self-motion perception in VEs, but omit a quantitative discrepancy between real and virtual motions. In particular, we consider to which regions of the virtual view these apparent self-motion illusions can be applied, i.e., the ground plane or peripheral vision. Therefore, we introduce four illusions and show in experiments that optic flow manipulation can significantly affect users' self-motion judgments. Furthermore, we show that with such manipulations of optic flow fields the underestimation of travel distances can be compensated.

Motion perception in immersive virtual reality environments significantly differs from the real world. For example, previous work has shown that users tend to underestimate travel distances in immersive virtual environments (VEs). As a solution to this problem, some researchers propose to scale the mapped virtual camera motion relative to the tracked real-world movement of a user until real and virtual motion appear to match, i. e., real-world movements could be mapped with a larger gain to the VE in order to compensate for the underestimation. Although this approach usually results in more accurate self-motion judgments by users, introducing discrepancies between real and virtual motion can become a problem, in particular, due to misalignments of both worlds and distorted space cognition. In this paper we describe a different approach that introduces apparent self-motion illusions by manipulating optic flow fields during movements in VEs. These manipulations can affect self-motion perception in VEs, but omit a quantitative discrepancy between real and virtual motions. We introduce four illusions and show in experiments that optic flow manipulation can significantly affect users' self-motion judgments. Furthermore, we show that with such manipulation of optic flow fields the underestimation of travel distances can be compensated.