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Footfalls and Walkers photography dream

Through the lens or on the screen
The views of, and from, Munibung Hill are a photographer’s dream.

All the more so when it comes to the outlook over Lake Macquarie.  The walk in this instance started from Lucilla Ridge, Macquarie Hills. In the case of Oliver, he is most familiar with the main track along the north south ridgeline, but he sometimes explores older tracks that are still clear.

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Footfalls
The snapshots we take with every step we make

WE HAVE REPORTED ON THE BENEFITS of walking and our bias for walking at Munibung Hill before, but it is always good to come across new research that reinforces what we inherently know – walking is good for us and walking at Munibung Hill, in our opinion, is awesome.

In: Our brains take rhythmic snapshots of the world as we walk – and we never knew, Matthew Davidson, Postdoctoral research fellow, University of Sydney (March 7, 2024) reports that: “For decades, psychology departments around the world have studied human behaviour in darkened laboratories that restrict natural movement.”

Our new study, published today in Nature Communications, challenges the wisdom of this approach. With the help of virtual reality (VR), we have revealed previously hidden aspects of perception that happen during a simple everyday action – walking.

Seeing and interacting with things in the real world has a lot more going for it than passive experiences on a computer, tablet or television screen.

We found the rhythmic movement of walking changes how sensitive we are to the surrounding environment. With every step we take, our perception cycles through “good” and “bad” phases.

This means your smooth, continuous experience of an afternoon stroll is deceptive. Instead, it’s as if your brain takes rhythmic snapshots of the world – and they are synchronised with the rhythm of your footfall.

…. First appeared in MMM Issue #44, June-July 2024