Locomotion through a Complex Environment with Limited Field-of-View

Restrictions of field-of-view are known to impair human performance for a range of different tasks. However, such effects on human locomotion through a complex environment are still not clear. Effects of both horizontal (30 degrees, 75 degrees, 112 degrees, 120 degrees, 140 degrees, 160 degrees, and 180 degrees) and vertical (18 degrees and 48 degrees) field-of-view restrictions on the walking speed and head movements of participants maneuvering through an obstacle course were investigated. All field-of-view restrictions tested significantly increased time to complete the entire course, compared to the unrestricted condition. The time to traverse the course was significantly longer for a vertical field-of-view of 18 degrees than for a vertical field-of-view of 48 degrees. For a fixed vertical field-of-view size, the traversal time was constant for horizontal field-of-view sizes ranging between 75 degrees and 180 degrees and increased significantly for the 30 degrees horizontal field-of-view condition. In the restricted viewing conditions, the angular velocity of head movements made while stepping over an obstacle increased significantly over that for the unrestricted field-of-view condition, but no difference was found between the different field-of-view sizes. Implications of the current findings for the development of devices with field-of-view restrictions are discussed.