Investigating Vection-Based Directional Guidance during Snowboarding Using a VR Simulator

Visual stimuli such as vection fields are known to unconsciously guide walking direction. However, their effects on other forms of locomotion remain largely unexplored. For example, snowboarding poses unique challenges for directional guidance because, unlike walking, the rider's stance is perpendicular to the direction of travel, and their gaze and board directions do not always align with it. This study examines the effects of three vection field presentation methods—head-relative, board-relative, and world-relative—on directional guidance during snowboarding using a VR simulator. Results showed an asymmetry between leftward and rightward visual stimuli, likely due to the body's front-back asymmetry. These findings suggest that visual stimuli may induce snowboard-specific patterns of directional guidance.