Depth perception of stereokinetic cone and absolute distance information

Magnitudes of the apparent depth of eccentric circles and real cone stimuli were measured as a function of viewing distance when they were rotated on a circular disc and viewed monocularly. The diameters of the largest circle and base of the cone were 5, 10, 20, and 40 cm at the viewing distances, 0.5, 1, 2, and 4 m, respectively. The height of each cone was equal to the diameter of its base. The cones were tilted 15 deg from the fronto-parallel plane so that their retinal images approximated to those of the eccentric circles stimuli. Eight observers produced the magnitude of depth of the perceived stimuli at each of the four viewing distances. The mean magnitude of the apparent depth for the eccentric circles stimulus increased linearly as a function of the viewing distance. The height of the cone stimulus was perceived veridically. The results of the experiment are consistent with the motion parallax hypothesis which states that the visual system calibrates motion parallax according to absolute distance information in processing stereokinetic depth

Cone (formal languages) · Depth perception · Geometry · Magnitude (astronomy) · Optics · Parallax · Perception · Physics · Stimulus (psychology) · Visual angle · Artificial Intelligence · Computer Science · Glaucoma and retinal disorders · Mathematics · Ophthalmology and Visual Impairment Studies · Psychology · Visual perception and processing mechanisms