Perception Of Motion In Depth Research Articles

A motion-in-depth model based on inter-ocular velocity to estimate direction in depth

Perception of motion in depth is one of the most important visual functions for living in the three-dimensional world. Two binocular cues have been investigated for motion in depth: inter-ocular velocity difference (IOVD) and changing disparity (CD). IOVD provides direction information directly by comparing velocity signals from the two retinas. In this study, we propose for the first time a motion-in-depth model of IOVD that predicts motion-in-depth direction. The model is based on a psychophysical assumption that there are four channels tuned to different directions in depth (Journal of Physiology 235 (1973) 17–29). We modeled these channels by combining outputs of low-level motion detectors that are sensitive to left and right retinal stimulation. Using these channels, we constructed a model of motion in depth that successfully predicted a variety of psychophysical results including direction discrimination, perceived direction, spatial frequency tuning, effect of speed on rotation in depth, effect of lateral motion direction, and effect of binocular and temporal correlations.

Misperception of motion in depth originates from an incomplete transformation of retinal signals.

Depth perception requires the use of an internal model of the eye-head geometry to infer distance from binocular retinal images and extraretinal 3D eye-head information, particularly ocular vergence. Similarly, for motion in depth perception, gaze angle is required to correctly interpret the spatial direction of motion from retinal images; however, it is unknown whether the brain can make adequate use of extraretinal version and vergence information to correctly transform binocular retinal motion into 3D spatial coordinates. Here we tested this hypothesis by asking participants to reconstruct the spatial trajectory of an isolated disparity stimulus moving in depth either peri-foveally or peripherally while participants' gaze was oriented at different vergence and version angles. We found large systematic errors in the perceived motion trajectory that reflected an intermediate reference frame between a purely retinal interpretation of binocular retinal motion (not accounting for veridical vergence and version) and the spatially correct motion. We quantify these errors with a 3D reference frame model accounting for target, eye, and head position upon motion percept encoding. This model could capture the behavior well, revealing that participants tended to underestimate their version by up to 17%, overestimate their vergence by up to 22%, and underestimate the overall change in retinal disparity by up to 64%, and that the use of extraretinal information depended on retinal eccentricity. Since such large perceptual errors are not observed in everyday viewing, we suggest that both monocular retinal cues and binocular extraretinal signals are required for accurate real-world motion in depth perception.

Asymmetries between achromatic and chromatic extraction of 3D motion signals

Motion in depth (MID) can be cued by high-resolution changes in binocular disparity over time (CD), and low-resolution interocular velocity differences (IOVD). Computational differences between these two mechanisms suggest that they may be implemented in visual pathways with different spatial and temporal resolutions. Here, we used fMRI to examine how achromatic and S-cone signals contribute to human MID perception. Both CD and IOVD stimuli evoked responses in a widespread network that included early visual areas, parts of the dorsal and ventral streams, and motion-selective area hMT+. Crucially, however, we measured an interaction between MID type and chromaticity. fMRI CD responses were largely driven by achromatic stimuli, but IOVD responses were better driven by isoluminant S-cone inputs. In our psychophysical experiments, when S-cone and achromatic stimuli were matched for perceived contrast, participants were equally sensitive to the MID in achromatic and S-cone IOVD stimuli. In comparison, they were relatively insensitive to S-cone CD. These findings provide evidence that MID mechanisms asymmetrically draw on information in precortical pathways. An early opponent motion signal optimally conveyed by the S-cone pathway may provide a substantial contribution to the IOVD mechanism.

Contributions of binocular and monocular cues to motion-in-depth perception.

Intercepting and avoiding moving objects requires accurate motion-in-depth (MID) perception. Such motion can be estimated based on both binocular and monocular cues. Because previous studies largely characterized sensitivity to these cues individually, their relative contributions to MID perception remain unclear. Here we measured sensitivity to binocular, monocular, and combined cue MID stimuli using a motion coherence paradigm. We first confirmed prior reports of substantial variability in binocular MID cue sensitivity across the visual field. The stimuli were matched for eccentricity and speed, suggesting that this variability has a neural basis. Second, we determined that monocular MID cue sensitivity also varied considerably across the visual field. A major component of this variability was geometric: An MID stimulus produces the largest motion signals in the eye contralateral to its visual field location. This resulted in better monocular discrimination performance when the contralateral rather than ipsilateral eye was stimulated. Third, we found that monocular cue sensitivity generally exceeded, and was independent of, binocular cue sensitivity. Finally, contralateral monocular cue sensitivity was found to be a strong predictor of combined cue sensitivity. These results reveal distinct factors constraining the contributions of binocular and monocular cues to three-dimensional motion perception.

Enhancing Motion-In-Depth Perception of Random-Dot Stereograms.

Random-dot stereograms have been widely used to explore the neural mechanisms underlying binocular vision. Although they are a powerful tool to stimulate motion-in-depth (MID) perception, published results report some difficulties in the capacity to perceive MID generated by random-dot stereograms. The purpose of this study was to investigate whether the performance of MID perception could be improved using an appropriate stimulus design. Sixteen inexperienced observers participated in the experiment. A training session was carried out to improve the accuracy of MID detection before the experiment. Four aspects of stimulus design were investigated: presence of a static reference, background texture, relative disparity, and stimulus contrast. Participants' performance in MID direction discrimination was recorded and compared to evaluate whether varying these factors helped MID perception. Results showed that only the presence of background texture had a significant effect on MID direction perception. This study provides suggestions for the design of 3D stimuli in order to facilitate MID perception.

Effects of gravity direction on the perception of motion in depth

Effects of gravity direction on the perception of motion in depth

視覚のボトムアップ信号処理 : 奥行運動の知覚からの考察(第21回大会 シンポジウム2 視知覚研究のゆくえ)

視覚のボトムアップ信号処理 : 奥行運動の知覚からの考察(第21回大会 シンポジウム2 視知覚研究のゆくえ)

Action induction due to visual perception of linear motion in depth.

Visually perceived motion can affect observers' motor control in such a way that an intended action can be activated automatically when it contains similar spatial features. So far, effects have been mostly demonstrated with simple displays where objects were moving in a two-dimensional plane. However, almost all actions we perform and visually perceive in everyday life are much more complex and take place in three-dimensional space. The purpose of this study was to examine action inductions due to visual perception of motion in depth. Therefore, we conducted two Simon experiments where subjects were presented with video displays of a sphere (simple displays, experiment 1) and a real person (complex displays, experiment 2) moving in depth. In both experiments, motion direction towards and away from the observer served as task irrelevant information whereas a color change in the video served as relevant information to choose the correct response (close or far positioned response key). The results show that subjects reacted faster when motion direction of the dynamic stimulus was corresponding to the spatial position of the demanded response. In conclusion, this direction-based Simon effect is modulated by spatial position information, higher sensitivity of our visual system for looming objects, and a high salience of objects being on a collision course.

Neural population models for perception of motion in depth.

Changing disparity (CD) and interocular velocity difference (IOVD) are two possible mechanisms for stereomotion perception. We propose two neurally plausible models for the representation of motion-in-depth (MID) via the CD and IOVD mechanisms. These models create distributed representations of MID velocity as the responses from a population of neurons selective to different MID velocity. Estimates of perceived MID velocity can be computed from the population response. They can be applied directly to binocular image sequences commonly used to characterize MID perception in psychophysical experiments. Contrary to common assumptions, we find that the CD and IOVD mechanisms cannot be distinguished easily by random dot stereograms that disrupt correlations between the two eyes or through time. We also demonstrate that the assumed spatial connectivity between the units in these models can be learned through exposure to natural binocular stimuli. Our experiments with these developmental models of MID selectivity suggest that neurons selective to MID are more likely to develop via the CD mechanism than the IOVD mechanism.

The Interaction of Changing Disparity and Interocular Velocity Difference in Motion in Depth Perception

The Interaction of Changing Disparity and Interocular Velocity Difference in Motion in Depth Perception

Audio–visual interactions for motion perception in depth modulate activity in visual area V3A

Multisensory signals can enhance the spatial perception of objects and events in the environment. Changes of visual size and auditory intensity provide us with the main cues about motion direction in depth. However, frequency changes in audition and binocular disparity in vision also contribute to the perception of motion in depth. Here, we presented subjects with several combinations of auditory and visual depth-cues to investigate multisensory interactions during processing of motion in depth. The task was to discriminate the direction of auditory motion in depth according to increasing or decreasing intensity. Rising or falling auditory frequency provided an additional within-audition cue that matched or did not match the intensity change (i.e. intensity-frequency (IF) "matched vs. unmatched" conditions). In two-thirds of the trials, a task-irrelevant visual stimulus moved either in the same or opposite direction of the auditory target, leading to audio-visual "congruent vs. incongruent" between-modalities depth-cues. Furthermore, these conditions were presented either with or without binocular disparity. Behavioral data showed that the best performance was observed in the audio-visual congruent condition with IF matched. Brain imaging results revealed maximal response in visual area V3A when all cues provided congruent and reliable depth information (i.e. audio-visual congruent, IF-matched condition including disparity cues). Analyses of effective connectivity revealed increased coupling from auditory cortex to V3A specifically in audio-visual congruent trials. We conclude that within- and between-modalities cues jointly contribute to the processing of motion direction in depth, and that they do so via dynamic changes of connectivity between visual and auditory cortices.

Impact of absolute disparities on motion in depth perception in stereoscopic displays

Impact of absolute disparities on motion in depth perception in stereoscopic displays

P1-26: Influence of Depth from Luminance Contrast on Vergence Eye Movements

A vergence eye movement is the simultaneous movement of both eyes in opposite directions to obtain or maintain single binocular vision. It has been shown that a vergence movement is induced not only by binocular depth but also by the changing size of the stimuli, which produces perception of motion in depth. That is, a monocular depth cue influences the direction of the eye movement, even when the eye movement contradicts depth from the disparity cue. Despite that a number of monocular depth cues are known, the influence on the vergence movement is known only with changing size. In this study, we focused on luminance contrast as a monocular depth cue and examined whether it influences the vergence movement. The stimuli were a Gabor patch with contrast changing sinusoidally in time at a given temporal frequency. When the observer looks at the stimuli, apparent depth changes with the contrast change. Eye movement measurements showed vergence movements synchronizing with luminance changes. Change in perceive...

Comparing two mechanisms for the perception of binocular motion in depth

Comparing two mechanisms for the perception of binocular motion in depth

Brain areas involved in perception of motion in depth: a human fMRI study

Brain areas involved in perception of motion in depth: a human fMRI study

Contributions of vergence, looming, and relative disparity to the perception of motion in depth

Contributions of vergence, looming, and relative disparity to the perception of motion in depth

Investigating perception of motion in depth using monocular motion aftereffect

Investigating perception of motion in depth using monocular motion aftereffect

Cue conflict between disparity change and looming in the perception of motion in depth

We hypothesized that it is the conflict between various cues to distance that have produced results purportedly showing that vergence eye movements induced by disparity change are not an effective cue for depth. Single and compound stimuli were used to examine the perceived motion in depth (MID) produced by simulated motion oscillations specified by disparity, relative disparity, and/or looming. Estimations of the extent of MID and binocularly recorded eye movements showed that the vergence induced by disparity change is indeed an effective cue for motion in depth in conditions where looming information does not conflict with it. When looming and disparity are in conflict, looming is the stronger cue.

Perception of Motion in Depth and Two Cues

Perception of Motion in Depth and Two Cues

Binocular processing of motion: some unresolved questions

The unresolved questions relating to binocular processing of motion include: Is the perceived speed of the motion in depth (MID) of an approaching object inversely proportional to the time to collision?; What visual information supports judgements of the direction of MID?; What is the relation between binocular and monocular processing in the perception of MID? We review whether the perception of stereomotion in depth of a monocularly visible object is caused entirely by a rate of change of disparity, and conclude that the difference between the horizontal velocities of the object's left and right retinal images makes at most only a small contribution to speed discrimination, but conclusions may be different for detection, perceived speed and directional discrimination. We review laboratory evidence on the relative importance of binocular and monocular information for interceptive action and collision avoidance and conclude that, in addition to the effect of considerable intersubject variability, the relative importance depends on the physical size of the approaching object, its distance and, if nonspherical, its direction of motion and whether it is rotating. We compare attempts to find whether the human visual system contains a mechanism specialized for the speed of cyclopean motion within a frontoparallel plane, and find the question ill-posed.