The critical phase for visual control of human walking over complex terrain

To walk efficiently over complex terrain, humans must use vision to tailor their gait to the upcoming ground surface without interfering with the exploitation of passive mechanical forces. We propose that walkers use visual information to initialize the mechanical state of the body before the beginn...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:	Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences - PNAS 2017-08, Vol.114 (32), p.E6720-E6729
Main Authors:	Matthis, Jonathan Samir, Barton, Sean L., Fajen, Brett R.
Format:	Article
Language:	eng
Subjects:	Active control Adolescent Adult Ballistic trajectories Biological Sciences Control Exploitation Feet Female Gait Humans Information Male PNAS Plus Synchronism Terrain Visibility Visual control Visual Perception - physiology Visualization Walking Walking - psychology
Online Access:	Get full text
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Summary:	To walk efficiently over complex terrain, humans must use vision to tailor their gait to the upcoming ground surface without interfering with the exploitation of passive mechanical forces. We propose that walkers use visual information to initialize the mechanical state of the body before the beginning of each step so the resulting ballistic trajectory of the walker’s center-of-mass will facilitate stepping on target footholds. Using a precision stepping task and synchronizing target visibility to the gait cycle, we empirically validated two predictions derived from this strategy: (1) Walkers must have information about upcoming footholds during the second half of the preceding step, and (2) foot placement is guided by information about the position of the target foothold relative to the preceding base of support. We conclude that active and passive modes of control work synergistically to allow walkers to negotiate complex terrain with efficiency, stability, and precision.
ISSN:	0027-8424 1091-6490