Adaptation to transients disrupts spatial coherence in binocular rivalry Marnix naber ✉ , Sjoerd Stuit, Yentl De Kloe, Stefan Van der Stigchel & chris L. e. paffen When one eye is presented with an image that is distinct from the image presented to the other eye, the eyes start to rival and suppress each other's image. Binocular rivalry leads to perceptual alternations between the images of each eye, during which only one of the images is perceived at a time. However, when the eyes exert weak and shallow suppression, participants tend to perceive both images intermixed more often. A recent study proposed that the precedence of mixed percepts positively correlates with the degree of adaptation to conflict between the eyes. However, this study neglected the role of visual transients, which covaried with the degree of conflict in the stimulus design. Here we report that not the conflict between the eyes but prolonged and repeated observations of strong visual transients cause participants to report more mixed percepts. We conclude that visual transients, such as sudden changes in contrast, draw attention, strengthen both eyes' image representations, and facilitate the adaptation to interocular suppression, which consequentially disrupts the spatial coherence in binocular rivalry. This finding is relevant to virtual-and augmented reality for which it is crucial to design stereoscopic environments in which binocular rivalry is limited.

The Tobii Pro TX300 is a popular eye tracker in developmental eye-tracking research, yet it is no longer manufactured. If a TX300 breaks down, it may have to be replaced. The data quality of the replacement eye tracker may differ from that of the TX300, which may affect the experimental outcome measures. This is problematic for longitudinal and multi-site studies, and for researchers replacing eye trackers between studies.

Eye contact is essential for human interactions. We investigated whether humans are able to avoid eye contact while navigating crowds. At a science festival, we fitted 62 participants with a wearable eye tracker and instructed them to walk a route. Half of the participants were further instructed to avoid eye contact. We report that humans can flexibly allocate their gaze while navigating crowds and avoid eye contact primarily by orienting their head and eyes towards the floor. We discuss implications for crowd navigation and gaze behavior. In addition, we address a number of issues encountered in such field studies with regard to data quality, control of the environment, and participant adherence to instructions. We stress that methodological innovation and scientific progress are strongly interrelated.

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14When the two eyes are presented with incompatible images, the visual system fails to create a single, 15 fused, coherent percept. Instead, it creates an ongoing alternation between each eye's image; a 16 phenomenon dubbed binocular rivalry (BR). Such alternations in awareness are separated by brief, 17 intermediate states during which a spatially mixed (incoherent) pattern of both images is perceived. A 18 recent study proposed that the precedence of mixed percepts positively correlates with the degree of 19 adaptation to conflict between the eyes. However, it neglected the role of visual transients, which 20 covaried with the degree of conflict in the stimulus design. We here study whether the presence of visual 21 transients drive adaptation to interocular conflict and explain incidence rates of spatially incoherent BR. 42 This novel finding is relevant to virtual-and augmented reality for which it is crucial to design 43 stereoscopic environments in which binocular rivalry is limited. 44 45