Motion Induced Blindness

[JackC1 0]

It is often noted that under canopy you must keep your head on a swivel, well here is a graphic demonstration of why that is really good advice.

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

[pchapman 261]

That came up in a thread in Bonfire I think a couple months back -- but the thread didn't attract much attention.

It does suggest that eye movement (shifting the angle of gaze) is useful to avoid having the brain lose track of small objects.

But it does involve large areas of movement making objects that are not moving on the focal plane disappear.

So exactly when this issue is most likely in the skydiving context is unclear to me. We might have situations where everything is not moving. E.g., background sky & ground essentially not moving, and a canopy on intersecting collision course with no relative movement. But then if we are turning to create a moving background, other canopies in the sky would also tend to move across the visual field. So it is harder to find cases of large areas of movement combined with small non moving objects.

Still, it is an example one of those visual problems (like plain old foveal vs non foveal vision) that can be minimized through the use of continuing brief eye movements, stopping at different points while scanning the the sky around.

[fcajump 153]

Quote

It is often noted that under canopy you must keep your head on a swivel, well here is a graphic demonstration of why that is really good advice.

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

Thanks for the link... that's cool/weird/scary...

Especially when you combine that with the lesson they teach pilots... The object (other aircraft) that is NOT moving in your field of view IS the object that is on a collision course.

And yet, this graphic tool shows that it is the stationary object that you are most likely to drop (visually).

JW

Always remember that some clouds are harder than others...