Do Observers Perceive Depth in Reaching Task Within Virtual Environments?

The main objective of this paper is to investigate whether observers are able to perceive depth of virtual objects within virtual environments during reaching tasks. In other words, we tackled the question of observer immersion in a displayed virtual environment. For this purpose, eight observers were asked to reach for a virtual objects displayed within their peripersonal space in two conditions: condition one provided a small virtual sphere that was displayed beyond the subjects index finger as an extension of their hand and condition two provided no visual feedback. In addition, audio feedback was provided when the contact with the virtual object was made in both conditions. Although observers slightly overestimated depth within the peripersonal space, they accurately aimed for the virtual objects based on the kinematics analysis. Furthermore, no significant difference was found concerning the movement between conditions for all observers. Observers accurately targeted the virtual point correctly with regard to time and space. This suggests the virtual environment sufficiently simulated the information normally present in the central nervous system.