ABSTRACT
Haptic perception of wielded objects (including perception of one’s own limb orientation) has been shown to be reliably constrained by an object’s rotational inertia. This chapter aims to determine if perception of the heaviness of a wielded object is influenced by the optical response to applied muscular forces. Four men and seven women at the University of Cincinnati participated in partial fulfilment of a course requirement. The motion data of the wielded object was linked to the motion of a graphical representation of the wielded object projected onto a screen viewed by the participant. Before beginning the experiment proper, participants were allowed a few test swings of the object to get used to the wielding motion and to the visual display. For a given participant the dependent measure was the proportion of trials of a given rotational inertia for which the low optical gain setting was reported as heavier than the same rotational inertia with a high optical gain setting.
