Thread: Motion Blindness

This was just too interesting NOT to pass on -

This is really an interesting demonstration. I did not believe it at first but
was able to prove I was blind to the three yellow spots and that they did
not disappear as my eyes indicated.

When driving keep your eyes moving, checking mirrors, looking to the left and right and this blinding affect is minimized.
This is really interesting. If you don't believe those yellow dots are not disappearing, have someone stand by you and NOT stare at the green dot.

Motion Induced Blindness

This is frightening! It works exactly like it says, and is one major reason people in cars can look right at you (when you're on a motorcycle or bicycle)---AND NOT SEE YOU.

From a former Naval Aviator. This is a great illustration of what we were taught about scanning outside the cockpit when I went through training back in the '60s. We were told to scan the horizon for a short distance, stop momentarily, and repeat the process. I can remember being told why this was the most effective technique to locate other aircraft. It was emphasized (repeatedly) to NOT fix your gaze for more than a couple of seconds on any single object. The instructors, some of whom were WWII veterans with years of experience, instructed us to continually "keep our eyes moving and our head on a swivel" because this was the best way to survive, not only in combat, but from peacetime hazards (like a midair collision) as well. We basically had to take the advice on faith (until we could experience for ourselves) because the technology to demonstrate it didn't exist at that time.

Click on the link below for a demonstration...

MSF

Great... Now I'm motion sick.

Probably helps to explain why when you're are looking for something you don't see it. I tend to observe more at the edge of of periphery or when taking glances around an area. Hmmm, maybe that's why building code inspectors miss so much. They're looking too hard!

Raymond,

Thanks for the lesson on awareness.

This is mine and a lot longer...

My high school offered a six-week driver’s education course (1972, the program was terminated due to budget constraints, when, I do not know) for 16, 17, 18 year old students. There were two instructors both who constantly reiterated the same thing in the classroom, on the learning track and on the road...
While driving do not stare ahead!
Check LEFT,
Check RIGHT,
Check your mirrors every six seconds and turn your head to check for blind spots’,
If you do not, how do you know who has pulled alongside and is in your blind spot?
If you have to make an evasive maneuver to avoid a collision and you do not know who is on your left and right, and you collide with another driver, YOU are at fault!
There is no such thing as an accident…just inattentive drivers (latter to learn the phrase “situational awareness” when in the Army).

I also ride motorcycles, which heightens my situational awareness, not only when in motion, but at stoplights, always leaving enough room to “pop the clutch” and get out of the way. When idling at a stop light, I will gear down to neutral and relax, until I notice a car approaching from the rear, then go to first gear. I have “popped the clutch” a couple of time and spun to avoid being made a sandwich.

Referencing the MSF (which I am a graduate) link, I had been the yellow disappearing dot. My riding gearing is reinforced with Kevlar at the shoulders, spine, elbows, forearm and thighs (still lighter than the IBA I used to wear) with an outer florescent yellow vest, similar to what road construction crews wear.

One delightful spring sunshine day, while sitting idle at an intersection waiting for the light to turn green, I was observing the traffic ready to cross the intersection. Once the light turned green, I made a quick check to the left and right for red light runners, then across the highway to look at the oncoming traffic and throttled to cross the intersection.

With no turn signal, she decided to make a left turn in front of me.
She DID NOT SEE ME and I KNEW IT!
Will this be a head-on, or broadside.
Either way not good for me or my reinforced Kevlar riding gear.
Think!
Left is not an option.
Right as well.
For a head-on, better to be thrown over; instead of into the windshield and worry about the following car after impact.
So I stood on my pegs, displaying in all my glory my yellow reflective vest, SHE SAW ME, slammed on her brakes, I weaved right, “bounced” off the car to my right, “bounced” off her car and am still a Home Inspector today.

(Of course, I will never divulge any motorcycle “incidents’ to my wife that I survive.)
When I got home, I took off, cleaned up and hung up my reinforced Kevlar riding gear, threw my helmet in the garbage can (a “one time use” disposable item) and told my wife I needed a new helmet.

With people talking on cell phones, texting, etc. while driving the yellow dot is not a consideration! We riders and drivers need to maintain our “situational awareness” at all times.

Raymond thanks for the MSF link and awareness reminder.

Still riding,
Ride on!

This is always an interesting area of Psychology.

Try this, Place your cursor over the center blinking dot and look at it without blinking.

Bill

I am a former motorcycle rider. Apparently there is a higher chance of being hit on a motorcycle if a car is making a left turn. Again it has something to do with not expecting a motorcycle, but the fact the driver is expecting another car.

Motorcycles Handbook

Motorcycle Accidents: Common Causes | Nolo.com

yes..that's right, as a car driver and also a motorcycle rider, always keep your distance so you won't be surprised if another vehicle approaches or passes, keep the brake distance from the motorcycle, because motorcycles have a shorter braking distance.

Originally Posted by Raymond Wand

Click on the link below for a demonstration...

MSF

The link got me to a "Page Not Found" at the MSF site.

I rode as my primary means of transportation for just over a quarter-century, earned an MSF "MVP" plaque, . . . and lost a lot of hearing due to road noise, without realizing it. That's with a full-face lid, aboard a quiet beast: an R90 boxer with fairing and windshield. Earplugs inside the helmets might have prevented that, but I'm not sure how well I would have heard horns and sirens.

Originally Posted by david shapiro

I rode as my primary means of transportation for just over a quarter-century, ...

I never got into riding, but my younger brother rode as you describe, putting 40,000 miles a year on his bike. He rode Honda Goldwings, traded in his 80,000 mile bike and bought a new one every 2 years.

He still rides, but not that many miles each year.

I'll add two things.
Behavioral optometrists can teach you to switch from narrow focus to wide focus, at whatever distance; doing so might mitigate the blind-focus effect, though it won't substitute for turning the head.
Staring without blinking is pretty much always going to impair vision as it increases eyestrain. I've pretty bad dry eye myself, and I know that staring and not blinking enough contributes to it.

Last, Jack, Bill, Ray, whoever's riding, I hope you manage to keep it shiny side up. And when you go down, as is awfully likely, I hope you don't suffer any worse hurts than I did.