The surface of the empirical horopter

Abstract

The distribution of empirical corresponding points in the two retinas has been well studied along the horizontal and the vertical meridians, but not in other parts of the visual field. Using an apparent-motion paradigm, we measured the positions of those points across the central portion of the visual field. We found that the Hering-Hillebrand deviation (a deviation from the Vieth-Müller circle) and the Helmholtz shear of horizontal disparity (backward slant of the vertical horopter) exist throughout the visual field. We also found no evidence for non-zero vertical disparities in empirical corresponding points. We used the data to find the combination of points in space and binocular eye position that minimizes the disparity between stimulated points on the retinas and the empirical corresponding points. The optimum surface is a top-back slanted surface at medium to far distance depending on the observer. The line in the middle of the surface extending away from the observer comes very close to lying in the plane of the ground as the observer fixates various positions in the ground, a speculation Helmholtz made that has since been misunderstood.