Can we climb with our eyes? Preliminary report on the effect of conflicting virtual scenery on leveled and inclined gait

We studied the effects of visual scenery modulation related to path inclination on gait performance. So far, seven young healthy adults were tested with an advanced virtual reality (VR) system. While walking on treadmill in a self-paced mode in straight, uphill and downhill inclinations, the subjects were exposed to visual scenery providing visual flow presenting either conflicting or matching visual inclination to the treadmill inclination. When visual scenery changed to uphill or downhill scenery, gait was immediately affected, even when no corresponding treadmill inclination. Further research is required to understand if this effect can be employed to facilitate rehabilitation programs.