Abstract
The weight of an object can be judged by observing the person who carries it. An intuitive impression of heaviness is induced by varying the running speed of videotapes depicting the human motion of carrying, besides the detection of actual weight. Subjects estimated visual impressions of heaviness on a 7-point categorical scale by observing videotaped events showing an actor going up a stairway (Exp. 1) and walking on a flat surface (Exp. 2). Estimates of visual impressions of heaviness had a direct relationship with the size of an object and an inverse relationship with the velocity of the motion. Velocity had more effect on the impressions when the weight was carried up a stairway than on a flat surface. Then the velocity of the motion, the size of the object, and the direction of the motion were significant factors that affected visual impressions of heaviness.