Binocular Disparities, Motion Parallax, and Geometric Perspective in Patrick Hughes's ‘Reverspectives’: Theoretical Analysis and Empirical Findings

Patrick Hughes's ‘reverspective’ artworks provide a novel way of investigating the effectiveness of different sources of 3-D information for the human visual system. Our empirical findings show that the converging lines of simple linear perspective can be as effective as the rich array of 3-D cues present in natural scenes in determining what we see, even when these cues are in conflict with binocular disparities. Theoretical considerations reveal that, once the information provided by motion parallax transformations is correctly understood, there is no need to invoke higher-level processes or an interpretation based on familiarity or past experience in order to explain either the ‘reversed’ depth or the apparent, concomitant rotation of a reverspective artwork as the observer moves from side to side. What we see in reverspectives is the most likely real-world scenario (distal stimulus) that could have created the perspective and parallax transformations (proximal stimulus) that stimulate our visual systems.

[1]  M A Georgeson,et al.  Random-Dot Stereograms of Real Objects: Observations on Stereo Faces and Moulds , 1979, Perception.

[2]  J. Yellott,et al.  DEPTH INVERSION DESPITE STEREOPSIS - APPEARANCE OF RANDOM-DOT STEREOGRAMS ON SURFACES SEEN IN REVERSE PERSPECTIVE , 2007 .

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

[4]  B. Rogers.  Stimuli, Information, and the Concept of Illusion , 2010, Perception.

[5]  J. Aloimonos,et al.  On the kinetic depth effect , 1989, Biological Cybernetics.

[6]  B Rogers,et al.  Motion Parallax as an Independent Cue for Depth Perception , 1979, Perception.

[7]  N. Wade,et al.  Fooling the Eyes: Trompe L'Oeil and Reverse Perspective , 1999, Perception.

[8]  H. Wallach,et al.  The kinetic depth effect. , 1953, Journal of experimental psychology.

[9]  Thomas V Papathomas,et al.  Experiments with a Hollow Mask and a Reverspective: Top-down Influences in the Inversion Effect for 3-D Stimuli , 2004, Perception.

[10]  B J Rogers,et al.  The Appearance of Surfaces Specified by Motion Parallax and Binocular Disparity , 1989, The Quarterly journal of experimental psychology. A, Human experimental psychology.

[11]  V Bruce,et al.  Independent Effects of Lighting, Orientation, and Stereopsis on the Hollow-Face Illusion , 1993, Perception.

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

[13]  B. Rogers,et al.  Anisotropies in the perception of three-dimensional surfaces. , 1983, Science.

[14]  B. Rogers,et al.  Simultaneous and Successive Contrast Effects in the Perception of Depth from Motion-Parallax and Stereoscopic Information , 1982, Perception.

[15]  G. Johansson.  Visual perception of biological motion and a model for its analysis , 1973 .

[16]  M F Bradshaw,et al.  Vertical disparities, differential perspective and binocular stereopsis , 1993, Nature.

[17]  J. Marsh,et al.  Anisotropies in the Perception of Three-Dimensional Surfaces , .

[18]  Thomas V Papathomas,et al.  Art pieces that 'move' in our minds--an explanation of illusory motion based on depth reversal. , 2007, Spatial vision.

[19]  B. Rogers,et al.  Similarities between motion parallax and stereopsis in human depth perception , 1982, Vision Research.

[20]  B J Rogers,et al.  Motion parallax and other dynamic cues for depth in humans. , 1993, Reviews of oculomotor research.

[21]  Alan Johnston,et al.  The Hollow-Face Illusion: Object-Specific Knowledge, General Assumptions or Properties of the Stimulus? , 2007, Perception.

[22]  Brian Rogers.  Vision in 3D Environments: Information, illusion, and constancy in telestereoscopic viewing , 2011 .

[23]  Norman D Cook,et al.  Factors contributing to depth perception: behavioral studies on the reverse perspective illusion. , 2008, Spatial vision.

[24]  Hiroyasu Ujike,et al.  Motion Parallax Driven by Head Movements: Conditions for Visual Stability, Perceived Depth, and Perceived Concomitant Motion , 2005, Perception.