Developing a System of Screen-less Animation for Experiments in Perception of Movement

Abstract

Experiments that test perceptual illusions and movement perception have relied predominantly on observing participant response to screen-based phenomena. There are a number of inherent problems to this experimental method as it involves flicker, ignores depth perception and bypasses the proprioceptive system, in short it is psychophysically distinct from dynamic real life (veridical) perception. Indeed there still is much disagreement regarding perception of apparent (screen- based) motion despite the fact that we view it in a myriad of ways on an everyday basis. With the aim of furthering our understanding and evaluation of veridical movement perception, the team sought to develop a replicable technique that included embodied, multi-sensory perception but eliminated the screen. They approached this by taking time-based techniques from animation and converting them to the spatial; grouping static objects according to Gestalt principles, to create sequential visual cues that, when lit with projected light, demand selective attention. This novel technique has been called the 'diasynchronic' technique and the system; the 'Diasynchronoscope'. The name Diasynchronoscope comes from combining diachronic, (the study of a phenomenon as it changes through time) with synchronous and scope (view). In being so named, it evokes the early animation simulators such as the phenakistoscope and the zoetrope, regarded as direct ancestors of the project in acting both as art objects and experimental media. This paper documents the creation of this new, experimental medium in choreographed time and discusses its potential as a novel tool for investigating aesthetics in movement.