Motion Induced Blindness... Important for Skydivers, Pilots, Drivers etc...

[LongWayToFall 0]

I got this in an email, very interesting stuff. Keep your eyes moving!

Lack of motion Induced Blindness was presented as a flying issue, but one can also miss things (pedestrians, motorcycles, other cars) while driving, so, keep your heads and eyes moving. The below link is a great illustration of what was taught about scanning outside the cockpit when military pilots went through training they were told to scan the horizon for a short distance, stop momentarily, and repeat the process.
This was the most effective technique to locate other aircraft. It was emphasized repeatedly to not fix one's gaze for more than a couple of seconds on any single object. The instructors, some of whom were combat veterans with years of experience, instructed pilots to continually "keep your eyes moving and head on a swivel" because this was the best way to survive, not only in combat, but from peacetime hazards (like a midair collision) as well.
The most dangerous target is the one that has NO apparent motion. This is the one you will hit without evasive action and also the one you will NOT see as presented below.
This advice had to be taken on faith until technology produced the display linked below.

http://www.msf-usa.org/motion.html

[oldwomanc6 38]

Interesting demonstration.

When in driving school as a teen, my teacher was death on "still eyes". He even had a mirror installed to see the student's eyes.

I always scan. It is most helpful to spot and avoid cops!

lisa
WSCR 594
FB 1023
CBDB 9

[dannydan 0]

yep totally believe this.. I'm a scanner!!!

[pchapman 262]

Cool. This perceptual error was new to me.

Scanning has long been emphasized in aviation... but that was more about how to cover large areas of sky given that our foveal vision in the centre is a lot better than the rest.