Monocular gap stereopsis: manipulation of the outer edge disparity and the shape of the gap. 2003

Michael J Pianta, and Barbara J Gillam
School of Psychology, The University of New South Wales, Sydney, New South Wales 2052, Australia. mpianta@optometry.unimelb.edu.au

A binocular stimulus that arises when two black frontal plane surfaces located at different depths have a gap between them for one eye but not for the other eye is interesting since the gap is monocular--it has no matching contours in the other eye--and yet binocular processes resolve a depth step effortlessly (Vision Research, 39, 493). In two experiments we investigate the processes and constraints underlying this depth resolution by varying the width of the solid image (the one without the gap) and the shape of the gap. The results show that the processes underlying monocular gap stereopsis can handle a situation in which the images of two surfaces in depth are effectively overlapping for one eye's view with the other eye seeing between them and that binocular depth is seen even when there is no disparity present. We also show that under ecologically appropriate conditions, depth curvature and warping can result when the monocular gap has a curved or warped edge. Both these experiments imply that the visual system responds to the ambiguity of the stimulus by adopting a minimum slant constraint.

UI MeSH Term Description Entries
D010364 Pattern Recognition, Visual Mental process to visually perceive a critical number of facts (the pattern), such as characters, shapes, displays, or designs. Recognition, Visual Pattern,Visual Pattern Recognition
D010775 Photic Stimulation Investigative technique commonly used during ELECTROENCEPHALOGRAPHY in which a series of bright light flashes or visual patterns are used to elicit brain activity. Stimulation, Photic,Visual Stimulation,Photic Stimulations,Stimulation, Visual,Stimulations, Photic,Stimulations, Visual,Visual Stimulations
D003867 Depth Perception Perception of three-dimensionality. Stereopsis,Stereoscopic Vision,Depth Perceptions,Perception, Depth,Perceptions, Depth,Stereopses,Stereoscopic Visions,Vision, Stereoscopic,Visions, Stereoscopic
D006801 Humans Members of the species Homo sapiens. Homo sapiens,Man (Taxonomy),Human,Man, Modern,Modern Man
D015357 Vision Disparity The difference between two images on the retina when looking at a visual stimulus. This occurs since the two retinas do not have the same view of the stimulus because of the location of our eyes. Thus the left eye does not get exactly the same view as the right eye. Binocular Disparity,Fixation Disparity,Ocular Disparity,Parallax, Ocular,Retinal Disparity,Visual Disparity,Binocular Disparities,Disparities, Binocular,Disparities, Fixation,Disparities, Ocular,Disparities, Retinal,Disparities, Vision,Disparities, Visual,Disparity, Binocular,Disparity, Fixation,Disparity, Ocular,Disparity, Retinal,Disparity, Vision,Disparity, Visual,Fixation Disparities,Ocular Disparities,Ocular Parallax,Retinal Disparities,Vision Disparities,Visual Disparities

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