In this study, as a first step toward elucidating the coordination between gaze and body movements, we applied an evaluation method for inter-joint coordination using singular value decomposition to clarify the coordination patterns between gaze and body movements during catching a ball, where visual information and motor commands are closely linked. To obtain the catcher’s gaze position and upper limb posture, measurements were conducted using a gaze tracking system and an optical motion capture system. By applying the singular value decomposition-based inter-joint coordination evaluation method to the measurement data, the coordination between the catcher’s gaze and body movements was quantitatively analyzed. During the measurement experiment, three throwers throwed balls, each using a ball of a different color. A participant caught a ball from a position 5 meters away from the thrower. The catcher performed the task under three different conditions, and the coordination between gaze and body was examined for each condition. As a result of the analysis using singular value decomposition, comparison of the spatial coordination patterns and activity patterns of time-series data showed that both the elbow movement and gaze appeared in the second mode in two of the conditions, suggesting a relationship between pronation/supination movements of the elbow and gaze behavior.
SATO et al. (Wed,) studied this question.