Abstract
The history of the expression of three-dimensional structure in art can be traced from the use of occlusion in Palaeolithic cave paintings, through the use of shadow in classical art, to the development of perspective during the Renaissance. However, the history of the use of stereoscopic techniques is controversial. Although the first undisputed stereoscopic images were presented by Wheatstone in 1838, it has been claimed that two sketches by Jacopo Chimenti da Empoli (c. 1600) can be to be fused to yield an impression of stereoscopic depth, while others suggest that Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa is the world’s first stereogram. Here, we report the first quantitative study of perceived depth in these works, in addition to more recent works by Salvador Dalí. To control for the contribution of monocular depth cues, ratings of the magnitude and coherence of depth were recorded for both stereoscopic and pseudoscopic presentations, with a genuine contribution of stereoscopic cues revealed by a difference between these scores. Although effects were clear for Wheatstone and Dalí’s images, no such effects could be found for works produced earlier. As such, we have no evidence to reject the conventional view that the first producer of stereoscopic imagery was Sir Charles Wheatstone.
Highlights
IntroductionWhile the patterns of binocular disparities specify a world turned inside out, monocular cues such as occlusion, shadow, and perspective continue to specify the same depth as in the stereoscopic situation
The simulation of depth in artistic works presented on flat media has been a challenge for artists throughout history
This study evaluates the quality of the stereoscopic depth effects produced by the original Wheatstone Arch images, the Chimenti image, and the Mona Lisa images, along with stereoscopic paintings produced by the contemporary artist Salvador Dalı
Summary
While the patterns of binocular disparities specify a world turned inside out, monocular cues such as occlusion, shadow, and perspective continue to specify the same depth as in the stereoscopic situation This produces cue conflict: a perceptual battle between two competing sets of depth signals that results in an impression of reduced (rather than inverted) depth, accompanied by feelings of visual discomfort and percepts of incoherent depth (Jastrow, 1900; Zajac, 1964), presumably due to differences in relative strength of monocular and binocular cues in different image regions. Any score significantly different from zero would denote a genuine stereoscopic contribution
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