Perceived depth reversals of images on a concave screen.

Reverspectives and hollow masks cause a reversal of perceived depth when observed from a position beyond certain critical distances, even if viewed binocularly. Their 3D structures or images invariably contain a linear perspective, shading, or familiarity cue to depth. Using a concave screen, we demonstrate a novel type of perceived depth reversal in binocular viewing with a variety of depth cues.

Linear perspective cues have a greater effect on the perceptual rescaling of distant stimuli than textures in the virtual environment.

The presence of pictorial depth cues in virtual environments is important for minimising distortions driven by unnatural viewing conditions (e.g., vergence-accommodation conflict). Our aim was to determine how different pictorial depth cues affect size constancy in virtual environments under binocular and monocular viewing conditions. We systematically removed linear perspective cues and textures of a hallway in a virtual environment. The experiment was performed using the method of constant stimuli. The task required participants to compare the size of 'far' (10 m) and 'near' (5 m) circles displayed inside a virtual environment with one or both or none of the pictorial depth cues. Participants performed the experiment under binocular and monocular viewing conditions while wearing a virtual reality headset. ANOVA revealed that size constancy was greater for both the far and the near circles in the virtual environment with pictorial depth cues compared to the one without cues. However, the effect of linear perspective cues was stronger than textures, especially for the far circle. We found no difference between the binocular and monocular viewing conditions across the different virtual environments. We conclude that linear perspective cues exert a stronger effect than textures on the perceptual rescaling of far stimuli placed in the virtual environment, and that this effect does not vary between binocular and monocular viewing conditions.

Monocular cues are superior to binocular cues for size perception when they are in conflict in virtual reality.

Three-dimensional (3D) depth information is important to estimate object sizes. The visual system extracts 3D depth information using both binocular cues and monocular cues. However, how these different depth signals interact with each other to compute the object size in 3D space is unclear. Here, we aim to study the relative contribution of monocular and binocular depth information to size perception in a modified Ponzo context by manipulating their relations in a virtual reality environment. Specifically, we compared the amount of the size illusion in the following two conditions, in which monocular cues and binocular disparity in the Ponzo context can indicate the same depth sign (congruent) or opposite depth sign (incongruent). Our results show an increase in the amount of the Ponzo illusion in the congruent condition. In contrast, in the incongruent condition, we find that the two cues indicating the opposite depth signs do not cancel out the Ponzo illusion, suggesting that the effects of the two cues are not equal. Rather, binocular disparity information seems to be suppressed and the size judgment is mainly dependent on the monocular depth information when the two cues are in conflict. Our results suggest that monocular and binocular depth signals are fused for size perception only when they both indicate the same depth sign and top-down 3D depth information based on monocular cues contributes more to size perception than binocular disparity when they are in conflict in virtual reality.

Visual and haptic cues in processing occlusion.

Introduction: Although shape is effective in processing occlusion, ambiguities in segmentation can also be addressed using depth discontinuity given visually and haptically. This study elucidates the contribution of visual and haptic cues to depth discontinuity in processing occlusion. Methods: A virtual reality experiment was conducted with 15 students as participants. Word stimuli were presented on a head-mounted display for recognition. The central part of the words was masked with a virtual ribbon placed at different depths so that the ribbon appeared as an occlusion. The visual depth cue was either present with binocular stereopsis or absent with monocular presentation. The haptic cue was either missing, provided consecutively, or concurrently, by actively tracing a real off-screen bar edge that was positionally aligned with the ribbon in the virtual space. Recognition performance was compared between depth cue conditions. Results: We found that word recognition was better with the stereoscopic cue but not with the haptic cue, although both cues contributed to greater confidence in depth estimation. The performance was better when the ribbon was at the farther depth plane to appear as a hollow, rather than when it was at the nearer depth plane to cover the word. Discussion: The results indicate that occlusion is processed in the human brain by visual input only despite the apparent effectiveness of haptic space perception, reflecting a complex set of natural constraints.

Effect of landscape design on depth perception in classical Chinese gardens: A quantitative analysis using virtual reality simulation.

It is common for visitors to have rich and varied experiences in the limited space of a classical Chinese garden. This leads to the sense that the garden's scale is much larger than it really is. A main reason for this perceptual bias is the gardener's manipulation of visual information. Most studies have discussed this phenomenon in terms of qualitative description with fragmented perspectives taken from static points, without considering ambient visual information or continuously changing observation points. A general question arises, then, on why depth perception can vary from one observation point to another along a garden path. To better understand the spatial experience in classical Chinese gardens, this study focused on variations in perceived depth among different observation points and aimed to identify influential visual information through psychophysical experimentation. As stimuli for the experiment, panoramic photos of Liu garden were taken from three positions at Lvyin Pavilion. Considering the effects of pictorial visual cues on depth perception, the photos were processed to create 18 kinds of stimuli (six image treatments * three positions). Two tasks were presented to the participants. In Task 1, 71 participants were asked to rate the depth value of the garden using the magnitude estimation method in a cave automatic virtual environment (CAVE). Statistical analysis of Task 1 revealed that depth values differed significantly among different viewpoints. In Task 2, participants were asked to compare 18 stimuli and 3D images presented on three connected monitors and to judge the depth of the garden using the adjustment method. The results of Task 2 again showed that depth values differed significantly among different viewpoints. In both tasks, ambient information (i.e., the perspective of interior space) significantly influenced depth perception.

The Effects of Adding Pictorial Depth Cues to the Poggendorff Illusion.

We tested if the misapplication of perceptual constancy mechanisms might explain the perceived misalignment of the oblique lines in the Poggendorff illusion. Specifically, whether these mechanisms might treat the rectangle in the middle portion of the Poggendorff stimulus as an occluder in front of one long line appearing on either side, causing an apparent decrease in the rectangle's width and an apparent increase in the misalignment of the oblique lines. The study aimed to examine these possibilities by examining the effects of adding pictorial depth cues. In experiments 1 and 2, we presented a central rectangle composed of either large or small bricks to determine if this manipulation would change the perceived alignment of the oblique lines and the perceived width of the central rectangle, respectively. The experiments demonstrated no changes that would support a misapplication of perceptual constancy in driving the illusion, despite some evidence of perceptual size rescaling of the central rectangle. In experiment 3, we presented Poggendorff stimuli in front and at the back of a corridor background rich in texture and linear perspective depth cues to determine if adding these cues would affect the Poggendorff illusion. The central rectangle was physically large and small when presented in front and at the back of the corridor, respectively. The strength of the Poggendorff illusion varied as a function of the physical size of the central rectangle, and, contrary to our predictions, the addition of pictorial depth cues in both the central rectangle and the background decreased rather than increased the strength of the illusion. The implications of these results with regards to different theories are discussed. It could be the case that the illusion depends on both low-level and cognitive mechanisms and that deleterious effects occur on the former when the latter ascribes more certainty to the oblique lines being the same line receding into the distance.

Binocular Vision and Stereopsis Across the Animal Kingdom.

Most animals have at least some binocular overlap, i.e., a region of space that is viewed by both eyes. This reduces the overall visual field and raises the problem of combining two views of the world, seen from different vantage points, into a coherent whole. However, binocular vision also offers many potential advantages, including increased ability to see around obstacles and increased contrast sensitivity. One particularly interesting use for binocular vision is comparing information from both eyes to derive information about depth. There are many different ways in which this might be done, but in this review, I refer to them all under the general heading of stereopsis. This review examines the different possible uses of binocular vision and stereopsis and compares what is currently known about the neural basis of stereopsis in different taxa. Studying different animals helps us break free of preconceptions stemming from the way that stereopsis operates in human vision and provides new insights into the different possible forms of stereopsis.

Unique Neural Activity Patterns Among Lower Order Cortices and Shared Patterns Among Higher Order Cortices During Processing of Similar Shapes With Different Stimulus Types.

We investigated the neural mechanism of the processing of three-dimensional (3D) shapes defined by disparity and perspective. We measured blood oxygenation level-dependent signals as participants viewed and classified 3D images of convex-concave shapes. According to the cue (disparity or perspective) and element type (random dots or black and white dotted lines), three types of stimuli were used: random dot stereogram, black and white dotted lines with perspective, and black and white dotted lines with binocular disparity. The blood oxygenation level-dependent images were then classified by multivoxel pattern analysis. To identify areas selective to shape, we assessed convex-concave classification accuracy with classifiers trained and tested using signals evoked by the same stimulus type (same cue and element type). To identify cortical regions with similar neural activity patterns regardless of stimulus type, we assessed the convex-concave classification accuracy of transfer classification in which classifiers were trained and tested using different stimulus types (different cues or element types). Classification accuracy using the same stimulus type was high in the early visual areas and subregions of the intraparietal sulcus (IPS), whereas transfer classification accuracy was high in the dorsal subregions of the IPS. These results indicate that the early visual areas process the specific features of stimuli, whereas the IPS regions perform more generalized processing of 3D shapes, independent of a specific stimulus type.

Disparity in Context: Understanding how monocular image content interacts with disparity processing in human visual cortex.

Horizontal disparities between the two eyes' retinal images are the primary cue for depth. Commonly used random ot tereograms (RDS) intentionally camouflage the disparity cue, breaking the correlations between monocular image structure and the depth map that are present in natural images. Because of the nonlinear nature of visual processing, it is unlikely that simple computational rules derived from RDS will be sufficient to explain binocular vision in natural environments. In order to understand the interplay between natural scene structure and disparity encoding, we used a depth-image-based-rendering technique and a library of natural 3D stereo pairs to synthesize two novel stereogram types in which monocular scene content was manipulated independent of scene depth information. The half-images of the novel stereograms comprised either random-dots or scrambled natural scenes, each with the same depth maps as the corresponding natural scene stereograms. Using these stereograms in a simultaneous Event-Related Potential and behavioral discrimination task, we identified multiple disparity-contingent encoding stages between 100 ~ 500 msec. The first disparity sensitive evoked potential was observed at ~100 msec after an earlier evoked potential (between ~50-100 msec) that was sensitive to the structure of the monocular half-images but blind to disparity. Starting at ~150 msec, disparity responses were stereogram-specific and predictive of perceptual depth. Complex features associated with natural scene content are thus at least partially coded prior to disparity information, but these features and possibly others associated with natural scene content interact with disparity information only after an intermediate, 2D scene-independent disparity processing stage.

Does stereopsis improve face identification? A study using a virtual reality display with integrated eye-tracking and pupillometry.

Stereopsis is a powerful depth cue for humans, which may also contribute to object recognition. In particular, we surmise that face identification would benefit from the availability of stereoscopic depth cues, since facial perception may be based on three-dimensional (3D) representations. In this study, a virtual reality (VR) headset with integrated eye-tracking was used to present stereoscopic images of faces. As a monoscopic contrast condition, identical images of faces were displayed to the two eyes. We monitored the participants' gaze behavior and pupil diameters while they performed a sample-to-match face identification task. We found that accuracy was superior in the stereoscopic condition compared to the monoscopic condition for frontal and intermediate views, but not profiles. Moreover, pupillary diameters were smaller when identifying stereoscopically seen faces than when viewing them without stereometric cues, which we interpret as lower processing load for the former than the latter conditions. The analysis of gaze showed that participants tended to focus on regions of the face rich in volumetric information, more so in the stereoscopic condition than the monoscopic condition. Together, these findings suggest that a 3D representation of faces may be the natural format used by the visual system when assessing face identity. Stereoscopic information, by providing depth information, assists the construction of robust facial representations in memory.

Color for the perceptual organization of the pictorial plane: Victor Vasarely's legacy to Gestalt psychology.

Victor Vasarely's (1906-1997) important legacy to the study of human perception is brought to the forefront and discussed. A large part of his impressive work conveys the appearance of striking three-dimensional shapes and structures in a large-scale pictorial plane. Current perception science explains such effects by invoking brain mechanisms for the processing of monocular (2D) depth cues. Here in this study, we illustrate and explain local effects of 2D color and contrast cues on the perceptual organization in terms of figure-ground assignments, i.e. which local surfaces are likely to be seen as "nearer" or "bigger" in the image plane. Paired configurations are embedded in a larger, structurally ambivalent pictorial context inspired by some of Vasarely's creations. The figure-ground effects these configurations produce reveal a significant correlation between perceptual solutions for "nearer" and "bigger" when other geometric depth cues are missing. In consistency with previous findings on similar, albeit simpler visual displays, a specific color may compete with luminance contrast to resolve the planar ambiguity of a complex pattern context at a critical point in the hierarchical resolution of figure-ground uncertainty. The potential role of color temperature in this process is brought forward here. Vasarely intuitively understood and successfully exploited the subtle context effects accounted for in this paper, well before empirical investigation had set out to study and explain them in terms of information processing by the visual brain.

Visual selective attention with virtual barriers.

Previous studies have shown that interference effects in the flanker task are reduced when physical barriers (e.g., hands) are placed around rather than below a target flanked by distractors. One explanation of this finding is the referential coding hypothesis, whereby the barriers serve as reference objects for allocating attention. In five experiments, the generality of the referential coding hypothesis was tested by investigating whether interference effects are modulated by the placement of virtual barriers (e.g., parentheses). Modulation of flanker interference was found only when target and distractors differed in size and the virtual barriers were beveled wood-grain objects. Under these conditions and those of previous studies, the author conjectures that an impression of depth was produced when the barriers were around the target, such that the target was perceived to be on a different depth plane than the distractors. Perception of depth in the stimulus display might have led to referential coding of the stimuli in three-dimensional (3-D) space, influencing the allocation of attention beyond the horizontal and vertical dimensions. This 3-D referential coding hypothesis is consistent with research on selective attention in 3-D space that shows flanker interference is reduced when target and distractors are separated in depth.

Allocentric information is used for memory-guided reaching in depth: A virtual reality study.

Previous research has demonstrated that humans use allocentric information when reaching to remembered visual targets, but most of the studies are limited to 2D space. Here, we study allocentric coding of memorized reach targets in 3D virtual reality. In particular, we investigated the use of allocentric information for memory-guided reaching in depth and the role of binocular and monocular (object size) depth cues for coding object locations in 3D space. To this end, we presented a scene with objects on a table which were located at different distances from the observer and served as reach targets or allocentric cues. After free visual exploration of this scene and a short delay the scene reappeared, but with one object missing (=reach target). In addition, the remaining objects were shifted horizontally or in depth. When objects were shifted in depth, we also independently manipulated object size by either magnifying or reducing their size. After the scene vanished, participants reached to the remembered target location on the blank table. Reaching endpoints deviated systematically in the direction of object shifts, similar to our previous results from 2D presentations. This deviation was stronger for object shifts in depth than in the horizontal plane and independent of observer-target-distance. Reaching endpoints systematically varied with changes in object size. Our results suggest that allocentric information is used for coding targets for memory-guided reaching in depth. Thereby, retinal disparity and vergence as well as object size provide important binocular and monocular depth cues.

The Human Brain in Depth: How We See in 3D.

Human perception is remarkably flexible: We experience vivid three-dimensional (3D) structure under diverse conditions, from the seemingly random magic-eye stereograms to the aesthetically beautiful, but obviously flat, canvases of the Old Masters. How does the brain achieve this apparently effortless robustness? Using brain imaging we are beginning to discover how different parts of the visual cortex support 3D perception by tracing different computations in the dorsal and ventral pathways. This review concentrates on studies of binocular disparity and its combination with other depth cues. This work suggests that the dorsal visual cortex is strongly engaged by 3D information and is involved in integrating signals to represent the structure of viewed surfaces. The ventral cortex may store representations of object configurations and the features required for task performance. These differences can be broadly understood in terms of the different computational demands of reducing estimator variance versus increasing the separation between exemplars.

On the number of perceivable blur levels in naturalistic images.

Blur is a useful cue for depth. Natural images contain objects at a range of depths whose depth can be signaled by their perceived blur. Here, to evaluate the usefulness of blur as a depth cue, we estimate the number blur levels that observers can perceive simultaneously. To estimate this value, observers discriminated and classified dead leaves patterns that contained a controlled distribution of blur levels but are more complex or naturalistic than stimuli typically used in blur research. We used a 2-IFC discrimination task, in which observers reported the interval that contained more blur levels and a classification task, in which observers reported the number of perceived blur levels. In both tasks, observers could not discriminate or classify more than four levels of blur in the stimulus reliably. In isolation from other cues, blur may provide only a coarse cue to depth and add limited depth information when present in natural scenes with complex distributions of blur and multiple depth cues.

Are first-order disparity gradients spatial primitives of the orientation of lines on the ground plane?

The present study investigated the mechanisms involved in processing orientation on the frontal and ground planes. The stimuli comprised two yellow circles conceived as the endpoints of a segment and depicted on a black background. In Experiment 1, the observers performed two tasks on both planes (frontal and ground). In Task 1 they were asked to indicate the absolute location of the two endpoints, presented one at a time (successive task). In Task 2 they had to locate the relative position of the endpoints presented simultaneously (simultaneous task). Relative and absolute errors were analyzed according to a cyclopean coordinate system derived from the geometry of the visual scene. These two kinds of errors were studied within the framework of the hypothesis that each kind of task would minimize the error related to its codification. The results showed greater absolute errors in the simultaneous task than in the successive task and greater relative errors in which the successive task seemingly activated a more accurate way of codification of the orientation. In Experiment 2 we controlled the availability of visual depth cues by changing the presentation time (50 and 3000 ms) and viewing conditions (monocular and binocular) in the simultaneous task. The results showed that the precision of orientation judgments was poorer on the ground plane than on the frontal plane, except when the observers used binocular vision. These results suggest that the orientation of a segment, at least on the ground plane, can be conceptualized as a gradient of disparities.

Are first-order disparity gradients spatial primitives of the orientation of lines on the ground plane?

The present study investigated the mechanisms involved in processing orientation on the frontal and ground planes. The stimuli comprised two yellow circles conceived as the endpoints of a segment and depicted on a black background. In Experiment 1, the observers performed two tasks on both planes (frontal and ground). In Task 1 they were asked to indicate the absolute location of the two endpoints, presented one at a time (successive task). In Task 2 they had to locate the relative position of the endpoints presented simultaneously (simultaneous task). Relative and absolute errors were analyzed according to a cyclopean coordinate system derived from the geometry of the visual scene. These two kinds of errors were studied within the framework of the hypothesis that each kind of task would minimize the error related to its codification. The results showed greater absolute errors in the simultaneous task than in the successive task and greater relative errors in which the successive task seemingly activated a more accurate way of codification of the orientation. In Experiment 2 we controlled the availability of visual depth cues by changing the presentation time (50 and 3000 ms) and viewing conditions (monocular and binocular) in the simultaneous task. The results showed that the precision of orientation judgments was poorer on the ground plane than on the frontal plane, except when the observers used binocular vision. These results suggest that the orientation of a segment, at least on the ground plane, can be conceptualized as a gradient of disparities.(AU)

Object-centered reference frames in depth as revealed by induced motion.

An object-centric reference frame is a spatial representation in which objects or their parts are coded relative to others. The existence of object-centric representations is supported by the phenomenon of induced motion, in which the motion of an inducer frame in a particular direction induces motion in the opposite direction in a target dot. We report on an experiment made with an induced motion display where a degree of slant is imparted to the inducer frame using either perspective or binocular disparity depth cues. Critically, the inducer frame oscillates perpendicularly to the line of sight, rather than moving in depth. Participants matched the perceived induced motion of the target dot in depth using a 3D rotatable rod. Although the frame did not move in depth, we found that subjects perceived the dot as moving in depth, either along the slanted frame or against it, when depth was given by perspective and disparity, respectively. The presence of induced motion is thus not only due to the competition among populations of planar motion filters, but rather incorporates 3D scene constraints. We also discuss this finding in the context of the uncertainty related to various depth cues, and to the locality of representation of reference frames.

Measuring young infants' sensitivity to height-in-the-picture-plane by contrasting monocular and binocular preferential-looking.

To examine young infants' sensitivity to a pictorial depth cue, we compared monocular and binocular preferential looking to objects of which depth was specified by height-in-the-picture-plane. For adults, this cue generates the perception that a lower object is closer than a higher object. This study showed that 4- and 5-month-old infants fixated the lower, apparently closer, figure more often under the monocular than binocular presentation providing evidence of their sensitivity to the pictorial depth cue. Because the displays were identical in the two conditions except for binocular information for depth, the difference in looking-behavior indicated sensitivity to depth information, excluding a possibility that they responded to 2D characteristics. This study also confirmed the usefulness of the method, preferential looking with a monocular and binocular comparison, to examine sensitivity to a pictorial depth cue in young infants, who are too immature to reach reliably for the closer of two objects.