PROPRIOCEPTION ACTIVITY

[AceEducator]

Hi there! We're having a STEAM science night at our school, and my co-worker and I want to build a Proprioception box. He can't remember where he saw it, but here is the gist:

The person is in a box with four walls on wheels. The walls are colored black and white. The person is on a small box of their own and holding something. We move the box, and since the person thinks they are MOVING, they will try and compensate and move to not drop the object, only they are not moving, but they are getting tricked into it.

Anyone hear of this? I am trying to find a demonstration and a step by step guide to build the box. Thanks! 

[AceEducator]

FOUND IT! 
 

 

[AceEducator]

Okay, my next question is HOW DO YOU BUILD THAT ROOM? Does anyone know? A complete list of materials?

We are doing a family STEAM night, and this would be really cool to fit in with our proprioception section.

[Phi for All]

Not sure you need all that. The effect can be repeated in other ways. I've set my phone down on my knee while playing a game with screens that shift to the side, and my mind is so convinced the phone is falling off my knee that I'll move to compensate. Another variation is sitting in the grocery parking lot when the car in the space next to you backs out, and you jab the brakes because you think you're the one moving.

They mention the vestibular sense, but I think the key ingredient here is the interaction with your peripheral vision. The scope out at the edges of your vision isn't particularly well focused, and color sense is poor, but it's designed to pick up movement, and it seems to translate instantly into a reaction from us; we duck, we step back, we turn our heads to look, we grab things that might fall or shift.