Seeing Technology

[botte]

Hi riders:

 

Are you better at turning right than left? Or left than right? Would you be willing to help to test an idea that might explain this?

 

I would like to find out if the typical rider is better, worse, or the same in taking turns toward his/her dominant eye. I need data from as many riders as possible to get a good statistical basis for determining if eye dominance and “best turn direction” are related or not.

 

How could this help you ride better? If there is a relationship between eye dominance and turn direction, then in Keith’s language, we might be able to develop a better “technology” of seeing through turns—maybe finding a way of visually locating reference points faster, or getting better at sampling speed, as we turn toward our “bad” side.

 

Please tell me which (if any) eye is dominant and which (if any) way you turn best—either by posting in this forum, or by emailing me at eric.h.bott@saic.com.

 

Please report your results as follows:

Right eye dominant: RD

Neither dominant: ND

Strong left eye dominant: LD

 

I turn better to the right: RT

I turn the same either way: NT

I turn better to the left: LT

 

For example: “Hey, Eric, I’m LD/RT”.

 

In order to help in this, you need to give me BOTH your eye dominance AND your turn effectiveness indication. If I get at least 30 responses for right dominance and 30 for left dominance, I will publish the results in this forum, and we can start to think about the technology of seeing.

 

 

If you don’t know or aren’t sure which eye is dominant, find out as follows:

 

Make a small hole (1/8” – 1/4”) in the center of a card or piece of paper. With both eyes open, find a distant object that can be completely seen through the hole with the card/paper held at arm’s length. Without blinking either eye or losing sight of the object, slowly draw the card/paper back to your head. (Keep your eyes focused at the object you selected.)

 

In doing this, if you have a dominant eye, you will draw the hole in the card/paper up to that eye. At some point in this process, your perception may “snap”, and you will realize that one eye is actually looking at the back of the card/paper, rather than at the distant object you initially chose. In this case, your focus will probably switch to the back of the card/paper. Try the test a couple more times, and see whether you most often tend to draw the card/paper toward one eye or randomly towards either, or whether you never get far enough to tell. If your results are random or you never get far enough to tell, you probably don’t have a dominant eye. If you most often draw toward one eye, it’s the dominant one.

 

Whatever your results from this test, don’t worry. Except for the fact that you ride motorcycles way too fast, there are plenty of other people just like you!

[mdane]

LD\LT

 

No big surprise there. It might be interesting to also include dominant hand (left-handed vs. right-handed).

 

I'm a rightie.

 

-Mike

[racer]

OK, I had some difficulty performing the eye dominance test to begin with. I assumed that I would be right eye dominant by the way I tend to use my right eye when there is a choice. However, it would seem that my eyesight is neither left nor right dominant. (Must be all that Buddhist stuff I studied in my youth, haha.)

 

In any case, after thinking about it, all the turns I ever had trouble with were left turns. Oddly enough, since the prevailing theory in our sport is that conditioning due to street riding, that is the type of turns riders encounter most frequently at intersections, tends to determine a rider's "turn dominance". Though I can't currently remember which way the theory goes. I think it's that right turns (when riding the right side of the public road) tend to be more difficult because riders are forced into a slower speed, less stable, tighter, faster flick in that right turn. And I thought that meant that we learned to be more comfortable in left turns. Wider radiused, able to see through, ride faster, less lean angle = more confidence and that it is all psycho/physiological conditioning. However, upon reflection, this wouldn't seem to be the case for me. To be fair, I also rode racetracks for over ten years and stopped riding on the street altogether in the middle of that time period. (Race tracks tending to be clockwise with more right turns.) And, being 42, I might well need glasses, though it hasn't become an issue, yet.

 

Regardless, I find the subject fascinating.

 

Put me down for: ND/RT

 

(right handed)

[KIRK2002]

I AM RD/RT. (ALSO RIGHT HANDED)

[Keith Code]

Keep it simple guys.

 

It's common to have a "bad side", I'm not so sure you can make a case with the dominant eye thing, I just don't know but there are other factors:

 

Take for example someone who has fallen off of one side or the other, that can be the one they can continue to fear from the lingering effects of the moment they felt out of control.

 

You can always recognize the rider's "bad side" by which one looks the most uncomfortable that will be the side where they won't go with the bike. That is right at 99%+ accurate. I mean once you notice this and then ask which side the rider is least comfortable on it is always the side that fits the description above.

 

The article "The Bad Side" posted here on the forum has tons of data in it about this and there is also a solution recommended. Get your body position the same on both sides of the bike, that means the minimum is you are going with the bike and not countering it by keeping your head straight up from the gournd. Once you get used to that and practice it I think you will find that your "bad side" might just disappear.

 

Keith

[Den]

On 9/14/2006 at 4:35 AM, botte said:

Hi riders:

 

Are you better at turning right than left? Or left than right? Would you be willing to help to test an idea that might explain this?

 

I would like to find out if the typical rider is better, worse, or the same in taking turns toward his/her dominant eye. I need data from as many riders as possible to get a good statistical basis for determining if eye dominance and “best turn direction” are related or not.

 

How could this help you ride better? If there is a relationship between eye dominance and turn direction, then in Keith’s language, we might be able to develop a better “technology” of seeing through turns—maybe finding a way of visually locating reference points faster, or getting better at sampling speed, as we turn toward our “bad” side.

 

Please tell me which (if any) eye is dominant and which (if any) way you turn best—either by posting in this forum, or by emailing me at eric.h.bott@saic.com.

 

Please report your results as follows:

Right eye dominant: RD

Neither dominant: ND

Strong left eye dominant: LD

 

I turn better to the right: RT

I turn the same either way: NT

I turn better to the left: LT

 

For example: “Hey, Eric, I’m LD/RT”.

 

In order to help in this, you need to give me BOTH your eye dominance AND your turn effectiveness indication. If I get at least 30 responses for right dominance and 30 for left dominance, I will publish the results in this forum, and we can start to think about the technology of seeing.

 

 

If you don’t know or aren’t sure which eye is dominant, find out as follows:

 

Make a small hole (1/8” – 1/4”) in the center of a card or piece of paper. With both eyes open, find a distant object that can be completely seen through the hole with the card/paper held at arm’s length. Without blinking either eye or losing sight of the object, slowly draw the card/paper back to your head. (Keep your eyes focused at the object you selected.)

 

In doing this, if you have a dominant eye, you will draw the hole in the card/paper up to that eye. At some point in this process, your perception may “snap”, and you will realize that one eye is actually looking at the back of the card/paper, rather than at the distant object you initially chose. In this case, your focus will probably switch to the back of the card/paper. Try the test a couple more times, and see whether you most often tend to draw the card/paper toward one eye or randomly towards either, or whether you never get far enough to tell. If your results are random or you never get far enough to tell, you probably don’t have a dominant eye. If you most often draw toward one eye, it’s the dominant one.

 

Whatever your results from this test, don’t worry. Except for the fact that you ride motorcycles way too fast, there are plenty of other people just like you!

 

[Den]

I am Left eye dominant and right turn comfortable…struggle going left