Search PubMed⌕ Search

SEARCH · Search PubMed

Results for “Depth Perception”

Search indexed PubMed citations on genomics, clinical trials, systematic reviews and public health. Explore titles, authors and supplied subject terms, then open the PubMed record.

Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.

At least 1,711 records · Page 95Linked to original sources

Face perception in high-functioning autistic adults: evidence for superior processing of face parts, not for a configural face-processing deficit.

Configural processing in autism was studied in Experiment 1 by using the face inversion effect. A normal inversion effect was observed in the participants with autism, suggesting intact configural face processing. A priming paradigm using partial or complete faces served in Experiment 2 to assess both local and configural face processing. Overall, normal priming effects were found in participants with autism, irrespective of whether the partial face primes were intuitive face parts (i.e., eyes, nose, etc.) or arbitrary segments. An exception, however, was that participants with autism showed magnified priming with single face parts relative to typically developing control participants. The present findings argue for intact configural processing in autism along with an enhanced processing for individual face parts. The face-processing peculiarities known to characterize autism are discussed on the basis of these results and past congruent results with nonsocial stimuli.

Adolescent↗

Evidence for patchwork approximation of shape primitives.

Investigators have proposed that qualitative shapes are the primitive information of spatial vision: They preserve an approximately one-to-one mapping between surfaces, images, and perception. Given their importance, we examined how the visual system recovers these primitives from sparse disparity fields that do not provide sufficient information for their recovery. We hypothesized that the visual system interpolates sparse disparities with planes, resulting in a patchwork approximation of the implicitly defined shapes. We presented observers with stereo displays simulating planar or smooth curved surfaces having different curvatures. The observers' task was to detect whether dots deviated from these surfaces or to discriminate planar from curved or planar from scrambled surfaces. Consistent with our hypothesis, increasing curvature had detrimental effects on observers' performance (Experiments 1-3). Importantly, this patchwork approximation leads to the recovery of the proposed shape primitives, since observers were more accurate at discriminating planar-from-curved than planar-from-scrambled surfaces with matched disparity range (Experiment 4).

Computer Graphics↗

Perception of three-dimensional shape from ego- and object-motion: comparison between small- and large-field stimuli.

We compare the performance in the detection of the shape of concave, planar and convex surfaces for small-field (8 deg) and large-field (90 deg) stimuli. Shape is perceived from head translations, object translations and object rotations. We find large differences between small-field and large-field stimulation. For small-field stimulation performance is best for object rotation, intermediate for self-motion and worst for object translation. For large-field stimulation performance is similar across conditions. Few errors on the sign of the curvature are found for self-motion for both field sizes, indicating that self-motion information disambiguates the curvature sign. For object rotation with small-field stimulation, the concave-convex ambiguity is strong with many apparent deformations. In contrast, large-field curvature signs are always accurately reported, suggesting that the weight of the rigidity hypothesis depends on field size.

Depth Perception↗

The role of discontinuities in the perception of subjective figures.

Recently we proposed a theory of visual interpolation (Kellman & Shipley, in press) that addresses a variety of unit formation phenomena, including the perception of partly occluded objects and subjective figures. A basic notion of the theory is that discontinuities in the first derivative of projected edges are the initiating conditions for interpolation of boundaries that are not physically specified. In this paper, we report four experiments in which this claim was tested in the domain of subjective figures. Experiments 1 and 2 demonstrate that discontinuities in the first derivative of the edges of inducing elements have a clear effect on the frequency of report and the perceived clarity of simple subjective figures. Similar effects are found when unfamiliar subjective figures and inducing elements are used (Experiment 3). Experiment 4 rules out the possibility that the discontinuities in the first derivative merely add to the clarity of subjective figures. These experiments suggest that first-order discontinuities play a central role in unit formation.

Adult↗

Occlusion and the solution to the aperture problem for motion.

The "aperture problem" indicates that a local reading of the velocity of an oriented contour is inherently ambiguous, insufficient by itself to recover the velocity of image points. In Wallach's "barber pole" display consisting of moving diagonal lines within an elongated rectangular aperture, it has been suggested that the unambiguous motion of edge-terminators along the longer edges of the aperture propagates towards the motion-ambiguous center part of drifting stripes. This results in the perception of a surface moving in the direction of the longer axis of the aperture. By manipulating the stereoscopic disparity of a striped pattern relative to the aperture plane, we found that the disambiguating effects of terminators could be abolished if the striped pattern was in uncrossed disparity relative to the aperture plane. Also, the motion in 3 separate horizontally oriented, and vertically aligned apertures which would otherwise be seen as moving horizontally, was seen as "linked" together and moving vertically. This occurred only when the horizontally oriented segments separating these apertures were stereoscopically coded so that they appeared as occluders in front. These findings suggest that accidental or "extrinsic" terminators created by occluding edges are treated differently from real or "intrinsic" terminators, and that the real-world constraint of occlusion is thus implemented in the ambiguity-solving processes for motion.

Depth Perception↗

Stereoscopic slant reversals: a new kind of 'induced' effect.

Data are presented from three experiments confirming an earlier finding that the stereoscopic slant perceived may be opposite to the geometrically predicted direction of slant (Gillam 1967). The stimulus for stereoscopic slant was created by imposing a disparity gradient on a frontal plane surface. Reversals are shown to occur readily for slants around a vertical axis but rarely for slant around a horizontal axis. Reversal frequency is greater for surfaces which have a regular pattern, providing good perspective information about slant. Cue conflict cannot explain reversals because adherence to perspective information predicts a perception of zero slant rather than reverse slant. A new explanation has been proposed attributing reversals to the ambiguity of horizontal disparity gradients and disambiguation of the disparity gradient by its relationship to the perspective gradient. It is shown that for any given disparity gradient there is a physical surface which would give rise to a slant reversed with respect to that normally predicted. Such a surface is eccentric in the field of view, with eccentricity given by the difference between the slants signalled by the disparity gradient and the perspective gradient. This explains why reversal responses to disparity gradients occur in the presence of perspective. It is proposed, on the basis of this analysis and the fact that reversals occur, that, like convergence and vertical disparity, perspective is a factor contributing to the correct scaling of disparity gradients in the horizontal meridian with respect to surface eccentricity.

Attention↗

Sequential stereopsis using high-pass spatial frequency filtered textures.

Enright [(1995). Perception, 24 (suppl.), 32-33; (1996). Vision Research, 36, 307-312] described a simple piece of equipment for demonstrating a perceptual mechanism he called sequential stereopsis. The equipment requires an observer to set two textured targets seen behind a pair of small viewing ports to appear equi-distant. The principle upon which the apparatus depends is the use of textures whose elements cannot be resolved in peripheral vision at the eccentricity determined by the target separation. Enright used a fine sandpaper for this purpose. We have conducted two similar experiments using high bandpass filtered textures which eliminate any possibility that the low spatial frequency content of sandpaper textures could play a role. Our results corroborate Enright's general conclusions on sequential stereopsis, while at the same time showing that high-pass textures do not give wholly similar results to sandpaper.

Adult↗

Perception of scent over-marks by golden hamsters (Mesocricetus auratus): novel mechanisms for determining which individual's mark is on top.

Hamsters preferentially remember or value the top scent of a scent over-mark. What cues do they use to do this? Using habituation-discrimination techniques, we exposed male golden hamsters (Mesocricetus auratus) on 3 to 4 trials to genital over-marks from 2 females and then tested subjects for their familiarity with these 2 scents compared with that of a novel female's secretion. Preferential memory for 1 of the 2 individuals' scents did not occur if the 2 marks did not overlap or did not overlap but differed in age, but it did occur if a region of overlap existed or 1 mark apparently occluded another (but did not overlap it). Thus, hamsters use regions of overlap and the spatial configuration of scents to evaluate over-marks. These phenomena constitute evidence for previously unsuspected perceptual abilities, including olfactory scene analysis, which is analogous to visual and auditory scene analysis.

Analysis of Variance↗

Detection of smooth three-dimensional surfaces from optic flow.

An assumption central to the study of 3-dimensional (3-D) shape perception is that sufficient information must be present to detect a 3-D surface. Three experiments were conducted to determine the variables important for the detection of 3-D surfaces from optic flow. Observers were presented with optic-flow displays simulating either points positioned on a corrugated 3-D surface or points randomly positioned within a 3-D volume. The task of the observer was to indicate whether the display appeared to be a 3-D surface. An increase in frequency of the corrugation for simple (single-frequency corrugation) surfaces resulted in a decrease in surface detection. Detection performance increased with an increase in density and amplitude for both simple and complex (multiple-frequency corrugation) surfaces. An analysis of the deformation of the displays suggests that 3-D surface detection may be based on the summed absolute value of the 2 shear components of deformation.

Adult↗

Predicting the perception of three-dimensional objects from the geometrical information in drawings.

Three experiments investigated the hypothesis that perceived dimensionality of drawings of an object increases with the complexity of the drawings. Experiment 1 examined drawings of transparent objects. The results strongly supported this hypothesis: Judgments of each object tested increased approximately as step functions of complexity. In addition, the complexity at which the step occurred increased with the complexity of the object. Similar results were obtained in Experiment 2, which investigated drawings of solid objects. These experiments also provided support for a measure of complexity that includes a measure of how much is in the drawing as well as how organized the drawing is. In Experiment 2, there were some judgments that did not fit the hypothesis. Experiment 3 investigated the possibility that the deviant judgments were produced by alternate three-dimensional interpretations of the drawings. Results indicated that 12% of the drawings had multiple three-dimensional interpretations, but this did not explain the deviant judgments. Several methods of expanding the complexity hypothesis to handle the multiple interpretations and the deviant judgments are discussed.

Adult↗

[Dynamic stereoscopy and parallactoscopy and their importance for the 3-dimensional perception of moving objects].

The three-dimensional perception of moving objects plays an important role in professional and everyday tasks. Nevertheless, to date it has remained relatively unnoticed in the practice of ophthalmological and occupational medicine, although in 1984 the WHO also recommended testing dynamic vision. To determine dynamic stereoscopic visual acuity, the binocular prism rotation device was constructed and to determine dynamic parallactoscopy, the parallactoscopometer. The visual acuity found via dynamic stereoscopy decreased relatively quickly with increasing velocity (n = 103) and differed from stereoscopy determined at rest. Dynamic stereoscopy led to very precise fine spatial orientation, but it failed with average velocities; dynamic parallactoscopy had coarser visual powers, but it was relatively independent of speed and thus rendered essentially better spatial orientation possible at rapid velocities. It is possible that at slow pedestrian speed the two were equal. Under much-reduced light densities and reduced visual acuities, dynamic parallactoscopy remained intact in contrast to dynamic stereoscopy.

Depth Perception↗

Anisotropies in the perception of stereoscopic surfaces: the role of orientation disparity.

We measured stereoscopic slant detection thresholds for surfaces slanting about a horizontal or a vertical axis. For random-dot covered surfaces, 1.25 deg of slant was required to detect slant about a horizontal axis, whereas 2.1 deg of slant was required to detect slant about a vertical axis. This anisotropy could be due to the fact that orientation disparities, which contain information about surface slant, are generally smaller for surfaces slanting about a vertical axis. To test this possibility, slant thresholds were measured for surfaces whose orientation disparity content was manipulated independently of the other slant information present. When the magnitude of orientation disparity was the same for surfaces slanting about a horizontal and a vertical axis, both surface orientations required about 1.5 deg of slant to be detected; thus the anisotropy became negligible. In contrast, when the orientation disparity content of a surface slanting about a vertical axis was zero, 3-4 deg of slant was required for detection; thus the anisotropy became larger. Under the conditions of these experiments, it appears that the visual system utilizes orientation disparities.

Depth Perception↗

A distinctive characteristic of pictorial perception: the zoom effect.

To investigate the role of flat surface information for the plane of projection in pictorial perception, three studies were designed in which varying amounts of such information were made available to adult subjects. The first study tested preferences for true or modified linear perspective under conditions of presence or absence of surface texture cues for the plane of projection. In the second and third studies, the absence of texture cues for the plane was coupled with the addition of motion parallax and binocular information respectively. It was found that adults showed a consistent preference for parallel perspective in pictures when the flat-surface information was provided either by visible texture or by motion parallax; but no consistent preference for either true or modified perspective in the absence of all three sources of flatness information or when the flat surface information was given only by binocular cues in the absence of visible surface texture of visible surface texture or head motion.

Cues↗

Orientation disparity, deformation, and stereoscopic slant perception.

Koenderink and van Doorn's theory, that the basis of stereoscopic slant perception is the deformation component of the disparity, field, was tested for slant around a horizontal axis, which produces images with a vertical ramp of horizontal disparity (horizontal shear) characterised by a global orientation disparity at the vertical meridian. The disparity field in this case can be parsed into two components, deformation and curl, which each contribute half of the orientation disparity. This case was compared with similar random-dot stimuli in which the deformation component was doubled and the curl component eliminated or vice versa. All three types of stimuli had identical orientation disparity at the vertical meridian. A condition in which there was no such orientation disparity, but deformation was present, was also included. It was found that perceived slant was not related to the deformation present, as Koenderink and van Doorn's theory would predict, but was predictable from the orientation disparity at the vertical meridian per se.

Depth Perception↗

Double fusion does not occur in Panum's limiting case: evidence from orientation disparity.

When two lines of different orientations are combined in regular stereograms, the orientation of the resulting line is different from those of the monocular lines. In this study we investigate the percept elicited by orientation disparity in Panum's limiting case. A variant of Panum's limiting case was designed to include orientation disparity. The single line in one half-image tilted leftwards. One of the double lines in the other half-image was parallel to the single line, while the other one tilted rightwards with obliquity one third that of the single line. In this stimulus configuration, if the single line in one half-image fuses with both lines in the other half-image at the same time, both of the two lines perceived after fusion should tilt leftwards. If double fusion does not happen, the two lines should tilt leftwards and rightwards respectively. The results of this study are in agreement with the latter prediction, which implies that double fusion does not occur in this variant of Panum's limiting case.

Depth Perception↗

The effects of motion and stereopsis on three-dimensional visualization.

Previous studies have demonstrated that motion cues combined with stereoscopic viewing can enhance the perception of three-dimensional objects displayed on a two-dimensional computer screen. Using a variant of the mental rotation paradigm, subjects view pairs of object images presented on a computer terminal and judge whether the objects are the same or different. The effects of four variables on the accuracy and speed of decision performances are assessed: stereo vs. mono viewing, controlled vs. uncontrolled object motion, cube vs. sphere construction and wire frame vs. solid surface characteristic. Viewing the objects as three-dimensional images results in more accurate and faster decision performances. Furthermore, accuracy improves although response time increases when subjects control the object motion. Subjects are equally accurate comparing wire frame and solid images, although they take longer comparing wire frame images. The cube-based or sphere-based object construction has no impact on decision accuracy nor response time.

Adult↗

Illusory 3-D rotation induced by dynamic image shading.

Observers' perceptions of the three-dimensional structure of smoothly curved surfaces defined by patterns of image shading were investigated under varying conditions of illumination. In five experiments, observers judged the global orientation and the motion of the simulated surfaces from both static and dynamic patterns of image shading. We found that perceptual performance was more accurate with static than with dynamic displays. Dynamic displays evoked systematic biases in perceptual performance when the surface and the illumination source were simulated as rotating in opposite directions. In these conditions, the surface was incorrectly perceived as rotating in the same direction as the illumination source. Conversely, the orientation of the simulated surfaces was perceived correctly when the frames making up the apparent-motion sequences of the dynamic displays were presented as static images. In Experiment 6, moreover, the results obtained with the computer-generated displays were replicated with solid objects.

Adult↗

A laminar cortical model of stereopsis and three-dimensional surface perception.

A laminar cortical model of stereopsis and later stages of 3D surface perception is developed and simulated. The model describes how initial stages of monocular and binocular oriented filtering interact with later stages of 3D boundary formation and surface filling-in in the lateral geniculate nucleus and cortical areas V1, V2, and V4. In particular, it details how interactions between layers 4, 3B, and 2/3A in V1 and V2 contribute to stereopsis, and clarifies how binocular and monocular information combine to form 3D boundary and surface representations. Along the way, the model modifies and significantly extends the disparity energy model. Neural explanations are given for psychophysical data concerning: contrast variations of dichoptic masking and the correspondence problem, the effect of interocular contrast differences on stereoacuity, Panum's limiting case, the Venetian blind illusion, stereopsis with polarity-reversed stereograms, da Vinci stereopsis, and various lightness illusions. By relating physiology to psychophysics, the model provides new functional insights and predictions about laminar cortical architecture.

Contrast Sensitivity↗