Colloquium "Which way is up?" by Dr. Heather Jenkin

Which way is up? 

Abstract: Confusing signals from biological senses and external cues to up and down has been implicated is spatial disorientation in pilots, astronauts, and scuba divers.  Over the past 2 decades researchers at the Centre for Vision Research and collaborators have examined the role of cue conflict in knowing which way is up. How we investigate “where is Up?” will be described for earth-based participants, astronauts, and scuba divers. An examination of orientation cues led us to OCHaRT, an oriented character recognition task, where a simple letter probe that allows for the direction of perceived upright (PU) to be determined. This probe has, over the years, been used in a variety of environments: on earth, in space, and underwater. Research methodologies have changed over time and our most recent publication of underwater data collection will be presented and compared to data collection from the ISS.

Dr. Heather Jenkin
Department of Psychology and Centre for Vision Research
York University