We investigated the reference frames for the face and biological motion inversion effects by testing observers on face recognition and biological motion direction discrimination tasks inside the York University "tumbling room". Rotations of the room and the observer enabled comparisons of retinal, visual-environmental, and gravitational frames of reference. Performances on the biological motion task were best when the stimulus was aligned with the observer, and better when the stimulus was aligned with gravity rather than the room. Face recognition was best when the stimulus was aligned with the observer but did not differ between congruency with gravity or the room. The results suggest that the perception of both biological motion and faces operates in large part in accordance with an egocentric frame of reference.