Computation and measurement of slant specified by linear perspective.

One of the striking features of vision is that we can experience depth in two-dimensional images. Since the Renaissance, artists have used linear perspective to create sensations of depth and slant. What is not known is how the brain measures linear perspective information from the retinal image. Here, an experimental technique and geometric computations were used to isolate slant related to linear perspective from slant induced by other cues. Grid stimuli, designed to induce strong impressions of slant, were sufficiently simple to allow accurate predictions on the basis of numeric computations. Measurement of slant about the vertical axis as functions of slant depicted on the screen and slant of the screen relative to the observer showed that linear perspective explained 95% of the slant judgments. Precision and accuracy of the judgments suggest a neural substrate that is able to make highly accurate comparisons between orientations of lines imaged at different retinal locations. The neural basis of slant from the linear perspective has not yet been clarified. Long-range connections in V1, however, and cells in V2, V4, lateral occipital cortex, and caudal intraparietal sulcus have features that suggest an involvement in slant perception.

[1]  Wu Li,et al.  Global contour saliency and local colinear interactions. , 2001, Journal of neurophysiology.

[2]  Sooyoung Chung,et al.  Highly ordered arrangement of single neurons in orientation pinwheels , 2006, Nature.

[3]  J. Gibson.  The perception of visual surfaces. , 1950, The American journal of psychology.

[4]  Casper J Erkelens.  Virtual Slant Explains Perceived Slant, Distortion, and Motion in Pictorial Scenes , 2013, Perception.

[5]  Amiram Grinvald,et al.  Iso-orientation domains in cat visual cortex are arranged in pinwheel-like patterns , 1991, Nature.

[6]  E Gombrich.  Mirror and map: theories of pictorial representation. , 1975, Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences.

[7]  J. Saunders,et al.  Perception of 3D surface orientation from skew symmetry , 2001, Vision Research.

[8]  E. Gombrich.  Review Lecture Mirror and Map: Theories of Pictorial Representation , 1975 .

[9]  Zygmunt Pizlo,et al.  Detection of skewed symmetry. , 2008, Journal of vision.

[10]  M. Landy,et al.  Measurement and modeling of depth cue combination: in defense of weak fusion , 1995, Vision Research.

[11]  James M. Hillis,et al.  Slant from texture and disparity cues: optimal cue combination. , 2004, Journal of vision.

[12]  J. Cutting,et al.  Three gradients and the perception of flat and curved surfaces. , 1984, Journal of experimental psychology. General.

[13]  Zygmunt Pizlo,et al.  3D Shape - Its Unique Place in Visual Perception , 2008 .

[14]  T. Wiesel,et al.  Functional architecture of macaque monkey visual cortex , 1977 .

[15]  Brian Rogers,et al.  Binocular Disparities, Motion Parallax, and Geometric Perspective in Patrick Hughes's ‘Reverspectives’: Theoretical Analysis and Empirical Findings , 2010, Perception.

[16]  H. Sakata,et al.  Integration of perspective and disparity cues in surface-orientation-selective neurons of area CIP. , 2001, Journal of neurophysiology.

[17]  K. Oatley,et al.  Vernier acuity as affected by target length and separation , 1972 .

[18]  D. Hubel,et al.  Ferrier lecture - Functional architecture of macaque monkey visual cortex , 1977, Proceedings of the Royal Society of London. Series B. Biological Sciences.

[19]  H. Flock.  Optical texture and linear perspective as stimuli for slant perception. , 1965, Psychological review.

[20]  D. W. Heeley,et al.  The influence of stimulus shape on orientation acuity , 1998, Experimental Brain Research.

[21]  J. Payne,et al.  Perspective and form ratio as determinants of relative slant judgments , 1969 .

[22]  H. Bülthoff,et al.  3D shape perception from combined depth cues in human visual cortex , 2005, Nature Neuroscience.

[23]  C. Tyler.  Periodic vernier acuity , 1973, The Journal of physiology.

[24]  C. Gilbert,et al.  Adult Visual Cortical Plasticity , 2012, Neuron.

[25]  C. Connor,et al.  Three-dimensional orientation tuning in macaque area V4 , 2002, Nature Neuroscience.

[26]  D. Knill.  Ideal observer perturbation analysis reveals human strategies for inferring surface orientation from texture , 1998, Vision Research.

[27]  Hideo Sakata,et al.  Neural mechanisms of three-dimensional vision , 2005, Neuroscience Research.

[28]  R. B. Freeman.  Effect of size on visual slant. , 1966, Journal of experimental psychology.

[29]  J. Gibson.  The Ecological Approach to Visual Perception , 1979 .

[30]  Thomas V Papathomas,et al.  Experiments on the Role of Painted Cues in Hughes's Reverspectives , 2002, Perception.

[31]  J. Allman,et al.  Stimulus specific responses from beyond the classical receptive field: neurophysiological mechanisms for local-global comparisons in visual neurons. , 1985, Annual review of neuroscience.

[32]  Andrew Blake,et al.  Shape from texture: Ideal observers and human psychophysics , 1993, Vision Research.

[33]  Wendy J Adams,et al.  Bayesian modeling of cue interaction: bistability in stereoscopic slant perception. , 2003, Journal of the Optical Society of America. A, Optics, image science, and vision.

[34]  Jeffrey A Saunders,et al.  Both parallelism and orthogonality are used to perceive 3D slant of rectangles from 2D images. , 2007, Journal of vision.

[35]  Z Kourtzi,et al.  Representation of Perceived Object Shape by the Human Lateral Occipital Complex , 2001, Science.

[36]  Jean Bennett,et al.  Lateral Connectivity and Contextual Interactions in Macaque Primary Visual Cortex , 2002, Neuron.

[37]  R. B. Freeman.  Ecological optics and visual slant. , 1965, Psychological review.

[38]  James T. Todd,et al.  The effects of field of view on the perception of 3D slant from texture , 2005, Vision Research.

[39]  Hubert Damisch,et al.  The origin of perspective , 1994 .

[40]  Sooyoung Chung,et al.  Functional imaging with cellular resolution reveals precise micro-architecture in visual cortex , 2005, Nature.

[41]  T. Wiesel,et al.  Columnar specificity of intrinsic horizontal and corticocortical connections in cat visual cortex , 1989, The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience.

[42]  Mark Hymers,et al.  Specialized and independent processing of orientation and shape in visual field maps LO1 and LO2 , 2013, Nature Neuroscience.

[43]  Cyrille C. Girardin,et al.  Embedding of Cortical Representations by the Superficial Patch System , 2011, Cerebral cortex.

[44]  A. Parker,et al.  Effects of different texture cues on curved surfaces viewed stereoscopically , 1993, Vision Research.

[45]  J. Gibson.  The Ecological Approach to the Visual Perception of Pictures , 1978 .

[46]  Jeffrey A Saunders,et al.  The accuracy and reliability of perceived depth from linear perspective as a function of image size. , 2010, Journal of vision.

[47]  G. Blasdel,et al.  Voltage-sensitive dyes reveal a modular organization in monkey striate cortex , 1986, Nature.

[48]  G J Andersen,et al.  The Perception of Depth and Slant from Texture in Three-Dimensional Scenes , 1998, Perception.

[49]  C. Erkelens,et al.  Contribution of disparity to the perception of 3D shape as revealed by bistability of stereoscopic Necker cubes. , 2012, Seeing and perceiving.

[50]  E. Panofsky.  Perspective as symbolic form , 1991 .

[51]  D. Hubel.  Eye, brain, and vision , 1988 .

[52]  Benoit Cottereau,et al.  The time course of shape discrimination in the human brain , 2013, NeuroImage.

[53]  L. Leumann,et al.  Effects of Visual-Field Inversions on the Reverse-Perspective Illusion , 2002, Perception.

[54]  D. Knill.  Robust cue integration: a Bayesian model and evidence from cue-conflict studies with stereoscopic and figure cues to slant. , 2007, Journal of vision.

[55]  D. C. Essen,et al.  Neurons in monkey visual area V2 encode combinations of orientations , 2007, Nature Neuroscience.