Rehabilitation of a Classical Notion of Panum's Fusional Area

It is argued that (1) the work of Burt and Julesz does not challenge the classical notion of Panum's fusional area; (2) their disparity gradient concept is contradicted by some of their own findings as well as by those of Krol and van de Grind; (3) their results can be accounted for by the classical concept of Panum's fusional area if eye vergence is taken into account; (4) the explanations suggested by Burt and Julesz for the depth perception aspects of Panum's limiting case and the double-nail illusion are based on unwarranted generalisation of results concerning binocular direction vision.

[1]  Über das stereoskopische Sehen , 1925 .

[2]  D E Mitchell,et al.  A review of the concept of "Panum's fusional areas". , 1966, American journal of optometry and archives of American Academy of Optometry.

[3]  J. Krol,et al.  The Double-Nail Illusion: Experiments on Binocular Vision with Nails, Needles, and Pins , 1980, Perception.

[4]  B. Julesz,et al.  Modifications of the Classical Notion of Panum's Fusional Area , 1980, Perception.