Cooperative Stereo Matching Using Static and Dynamic Image Features

Visual experience is intrinsically subjective. The manifest unity of our perceptions belies the indeterminacy of our sensations. A single pattern of excitation on the retinal receptors is consistent with many possible worlds of objects. The simple problem of determining object brightness exemplifies the ambiguities inherent in the retinal image. The photons incident on a given receptor may indicate the presence of a bright or dark object depending on the overall level of illumination. In mediating automatic gain control, the horizontal cells of the retina express an assumption about the nature of the illuminant. These neurons in the most peripheral part of the visual system take the first step toward interpretation of the image. By a process of lateral inhibition, they discount the effect of illumination and determine the brightness of an object relative to that of nearby objects. At all levels of complexity, the visual system interprets each data point within the context of the scene. This interpretation is consistent with the input data and with the internal structure of the system. Through evolution, the structure of the visual system provides correspondence between the mental image and the objective world.