Binocular Vision And Stereopsis

This is a comprehensive survey of binocular vision, with an emphasis on its role in the perception of a three-dimensional world. The central theme is biological vision. Machine vision and computational models are discussed where they contribute to an understanding of living systems.

Binocular vision, i.e. where both eyes are used together, is a fundamental component of human sight. It also aids hand-eye co-ordination, and the perception of the self within the environment. Clinical anomalies pose a wide range of problems to the sufferer, but normal binocular operation must first be understood before the eye specialist can assess and treat dysfunctions. This is a major new textbook for students of optometry, orthoptics and ophthalmology, and also of psychology. Chapters span such key topics as binocular summation, fusion, the normal horopter, anatomy of the extra-ocular muscles, oculomotor control, binocular integration and depth perception. Fully illustrated throughout, the book includes self-assessment exercises at the end of each chapter, and sample experiments in binocular vision functioning.

The three-volume work Perceiving in Depth is a sequel to Binocular Vision and Stereopsis and to Seeing in Depth, both by Ian P. Howard and Brian J. Rogers. This work is much broader in scope than the previous books and includes mechanisms of depth perception by all senses, including aural, electrosensory organs, and the somatosensory system. Volume 1 reviews sensory coding, psychophysical and analytic procedures, and basic visual mechanisms. Volume 2 reviews stereoscopic vision. Volume 3 reviews all mechanisms of depth perception other than stereoscopic vision. The three volumes are extensively illustrated and referenced and provide the most detailed review of all aspects of perceiving the three-dimensional world. Volume 2 addresses stereoscopic vision in cats and primates, including humans. It begins with an account of the physiology of stereoscopic mechanisms. It then deals with binocular rivalry, binocular summation, binocular masking, and the interocular transfer of visual effects, such as the motion aftereffect and visual learning. The geometry of the region in binocular space that creates fused images (the horopter) is discussed in some detail. Objects outside the horopter produce images with binocular disparities that are used for stereoscopic vision. Two chapters provide accounts of mechanisms that bring the images into binocular register and of stimulus tokens that are used to detect binocular disparities. Another chapter discusses cyclopean effects, such as cyclopean illusions, cyclopean motion, and binocular direction that are seen only with binocular vision. Stereoacuity is the smallest depth interval that can be detected. Methods of measuring stereoacuity and factors that influence it are discussed. Two chapters deal with the various types of binocular disparity and the role of each type in stereoscopic vision. Another chapter deals with visual effects, such as figure perception, motion perception, and whiteness perception that are affected by the relative distances of stimuli. The spatiotemporal aspects of stereoscopic vision, including the Pulfrich stereomotion effect are reviewed. The volume ends with an account of techniques used to create stereoscopic displays and of the applications of stereoscopy.

The three-volume work Perceiving in Depth is a sequel to Binocular Vision and Stereopsis and to Seeing in Depth, both by Ian P. Howard and Brian J. Rogers. This work is much broader in scope than the previous books and includes mechanisms of depth perception by all senses, including aural, electrosensory organs, and the somatosensory system. Volume 1 reviews sensory coding, psychophysical and analytic procedures, and basic visual mechanisms. Volume 2 reviews stereoscopic vision. Volume 3 reviews all mechanisms of depth perception other than stereoscopic vision. The three volumes are extensively illustrated and referenced and provide the most detailed review of all aspects of perceiving the three-dimensional world.Volume 1 starts with a review of the history of visual science from the ancient Greeks to the early 20th century with special attention devoted to the discovery of the principles of perspective and stereoscopic vision. The first chapter also contains an account of early visual display systems, such as panoramas and peepshows, and the development of stereoscopes and stereophotography. A chapter on the psychophysical and analytic procedures used in investigations of depth perception is followed by a chapter on sensory coding and the geometry of visual space. An account of the structure and physiology of the primate visual system proceeds from the eye through the LGN to the visual cortex and higher visual centers. This is followed by a review of the evolution of visual systems and of the development of the mammalian visual system in the embryonic and post-natal periods, with an emphasis on experience-dependent neural plasticity. An account of the development of perceptual functions, especially depth perception, is followed by a review of the effects of early visual deprivation during the critical period of neural plasticity on amblyopia and other defects in depth perception. Volume 1 ends with accounts of the accommodation mechanism of the human eye and vergence eye movements.

The three-volume work Perceiving in Depth is a sequel to Binocular Vision and Stereopsis and to Seeing in Depth, both by Ian P. Howard and Brian J. Rogers. This work is much broader in scope than the previous books and includes mechanisms of depth perception by all senses, including aural, electrosensory organs, and the somatosensory system. Volume 1 reviews sensory coding, psychophysical and analytic procedures, and basic visual mechanisms. Volume 2 reviews stereoscopic vision. Volume 3 reviews all mechanisms of depth perception other than stereoscopic vision. The three volumes are extensively illustrated and referenced and provide the most detailed review of all aspects of perceiving the three-dimensional world. Volume 1 starts with a review of the history of visual science from the ancient Greeks to the early 20th century with special attention devoted to the discovery of the principles of perspective and stereoscopic vision. The first chapter also contains an account of early visual display systems, such as panoramas and peepshows, and the development of stereoscopes and stereophotography. A chapter on the psychophysical and analytic procedures used in investigations of depth perception is followed by a chapter on sensory coding and the geometry of visual space. An account of the structure and physiology of the primate visual system proceeds from the eye through the LGN to the visual cortex and higher visual centers. This is followed by a review of the evolution of visual systems and of the development of the mammalian visual system in the embryonic and post-natal periods, with an emphasis on experience-dependent neural plasticity. An account of the development of perceptual functions, especially depth perception, is followed by a review of the effects of early visual deprivation during the critical period of neural plasticity on amblyopia and other defects in depth perception. Volume 1 ends with accounts of the accommodation mechanism of the human eye and vergence eye movements.

The three-volume work Perceiving in Depth is a sequel to Binocular Vision and Stereopsis and to Seeing in Depth, both by Ian P. Howard and Brian J. Rogers. This work is much broader in scope than the previous books and includes mechanisms of depth perception by all senses, including aural, electrosensory organs, and the somatosensory system. Volume 1 reviews sensory coding, psychophysical and analytic procedures, and basic visual mechanisms. Volume 2 reviews stereoscopic vision. Volume 3 reviews all mechanisms of depth perception other than stereoscopic vision. The three volumes are extensively illustrated and referenced and provide the most detailed review of all aspects of perceiving the three-dimensional world. Volume 3 addresses all depth-perception mechanisms other than stereopsis. The book starts with an account of monocular cues to depth, including accommodation, vergence eye movements, perspective, interposition, shading, and motion parallax. A chapter on constancies in depth perception, such as the ability to perceive the sizes and shapes of objects as they move or rotate in depth, is followed by a chapter on the ways in which depth cues interact. The next chapter reviews sources of information, such as changing disparity, image looming, and vergence eye movements, used in the perception of objects moving in depth. Various pathologies of depth perception, including visual neglect, stereoanomalies, and albanism are reviewed. Visual depth-perception mechanisms through the animal kingdom are described, starting with insects and progressing through crustaceans, fish, amphibians, reptiles, birds, and mammals. The chapter includes a discussion of how stereoscopic vision may have evolved. The next chapter describes how visual depth perception is used to guide reaching movements of the hand, avoiding obstacles, and walking to a distant object. The next three chapters review non-visual mechanisms of depth perception. Auditory mechanisms include auditory localization, echolocation in bats and marine mammals, and the lateral-line system of fish. Some fish emit electric discharges and then use electric sense organs to detect distortions of the electric field produced by nearby objects. Some beetles and snakes use heat-sensitive sense organs to detect sources of heat. The volume ends with a discussion of mechanisms used by animals to navigate to a distant site. Ants find their way back to the nest by using landmarks and by integrating their walking movements. Several animals navigate by the stars or by polarized sunlight. It seems that animals in several phyla navigate by detecting the Earths magnetic field.

There has been growing acceptance of the insight that the methods so far used in the testing of visual functions have been inadequate when it comes to specific problems and should, therefore, be supplemented with more specialised methods for dynamic testing. As long as two decades ago, large-scale mass screening produced evidence to the effect that visual acuity, so far exclusively determined by means of still samples, was not identical with visual acuity in the ocular pursuit of moving targets (dynamic visual acuity). In other words, vision testing can, at present, provide little informa tion on an individual's capability of identification, appreciation, and judge ment of mobile objects. Spatial, three-dimensional perception of moving targets, hereafter re ferred to as dynamic stereoacuity, is the particular subject on which findings are reported in this article. Findings of that kind are of considerable relevance to everyday life, since many of the phenomena that have to be three-dimensionally perceived in private life and in occupational practice, are in movement. So far, dynamic stereoacuity has never been systematical ly studied and is still a blank space on the maps of ophthalmology and physiology. This is equally true for dynamic stereoscopy in binocular vision as well as for perception on the basis of movement parallax, a phenomenon of differentiated contour displacement within a given field of vision which is also available to the monocular individual under conditions of head or body or object movement within the visual space.

This book meets the growing demand among ophthalmologists, optometrists and orthoptists, in training and in practice, as well as visual neuroscientists, to have a clear, succinct and well-written textbook to objectively cover the subject of ocular and visual physiology. Ocular and visual physiology is a core knowledge component for these disciplines, and yet is often difficult to understand. However, this book clearly conveys the simple elegance of the relationship between structure and function that is the hallmark of understanding the physiology of the eye and visual system. Ocular and Visual Physiology – Clinical Application is essential reading for any one hoping to have a clear understanding of the subject. Students will find it a great resource to pass their exams. Each of the chapters has been independently reviewed and edited by an expert in the field with a clinical or visual scientific academic background. The text is based on the latest publications in peer-reviewed journals that are closely referenced within the body of the text.