How far along the future path do individuals recognize the path for stepping on multiple footfall targets? A new evaluation method under virtual reality

The rate of stepping failure was significantly higher under the N + 3 condition compared to the other three conditions. This finding suggests that young individuals are capable of recognizing footfall targets approximately two rows ahead when performing the VR multi-target stepping (VR-MTS) task but encounter difficulties when attempting to recognize targets located three rows ahead. Under the N + 3 condition, participants frequently stepped onto distractor squares, indicating a failure to recognize the stepping target situated three rows ahead, resulting in a random selection of the square to step on. Based on these findings, we conclude that the VR-MTS task is a valid method for evaluating visual recognition of the future path while stepping on multiple footfall targets.