The role of visual, auditory, and tactile cues in the perception of illusory self-motion (vection) in younger and older adults

One of the most critical components to an immersive experience in Virtual Reality (VR) is vection, defined as the illusion of self-motion. Vection is a multisensory phenomenon, relying on cues from a multitude of sensory modalities such as visual, auditory, and tactile. As a natural result of aging, the sensory systems which detect and process these cues decline. The objective of the present study was to investigate vection in adults of different ages, to test how age-related changes may influence the perception of vection. Twenty-four younger adults and 10 older adults were recruited to participate in a study at Toronto Rehabilitation Institute’s StreetLab. Participants were seated in a rotatable chair in StreetLab and exposed to revolving visual, auditory, and tactile stimuli inducing the illusion of circular vection. Results indicated older adults experienced notably longer durations overall, as well as an audio by tactile interaction regarding vection intensity.