Perception and action is linked via the environment. The environment consists of a physical and a social part, and most studies addressing human perception and action have focused on the interaction with the physical world. However, for the proper functioning of an individual, communication and interaction with its social environment is highly important. There is little doubt that perception aids interaction and communication and therefore is essential for an individual in its social context. Furthermore, it is assumed that the human perceptual and action system phylogenetically developed also due to the demands present in social interaction and exchange with others.

Some “special” skills are necessary in social interaction, which are not necessarily required for the interaction with the physical world. Humans need to recognize the actions of others and their goals. They have to perceive inner states like emotions, intentions and beliefs and predict the actions and the course of ongoing movements. Finally, they have to coordinate attention and action when it comes to close interaction. It seems reasonable to assume that the perceptual system has specialized processes dedicated to the processing of social information because of the frequency and abundance with which humans have to deal with social information.

In this area we investigate a) coordination issues between individuals, b) perceptual influences by the mere presence of others, and c) potential specialized perceptual processes in the perception and action during human interaction.

◘ Multi User Interaction and Control
◘ Accessing social information during joint action coordination
◘ The role of perceptual processes in the recognition of social interaction
◘ Motion Perception in Virtual Environments

Motion perception in virtual environments

Efficient navigation in the environment requires a good representation of body position and orientation. When the body moves, this representation must be updated taking into account the perceived changes of the body-environment relationship. In this project, we investigate how visual and vestibular signals contribute to the perceived speed and amplitude of body displacements relative to the environment. We use high-end virtual reality devices to display realistic visual scenes and generate body motion.