Binocular depth discrimination and estimation beyond interaction space

Abstract

The benefits of binocular vision have been debated throughout the history of vision science yet few studies have considered its contribution beyond a viewing distance of a few meters. In the first set of experiments, we compared monocular and binocular performance on depth interval estimation and discrimination tasks at 4.5, 9.0 or 18.0 m. Under monocular conditions, perceived depth was significantly compressed. Binocular depth estimates were much nearer to veridical although also compressed. Regression-based precision measures were much more precise for binocular compared to monocular conditions (ratios between 2.1 and 48). We confirm that stereopsis supports reliable depth discriminations beyond typical laboratory distances. Furthermore, binocular vision can significantly improve both the accuracy and precision of depth estimation to at least 18 m. In another experiment, we used a novel paradigm that allowed the presentation of real binocular disparity stimuli in the presence of rich environmental cues to distance but not interstimulus depth. We found that the presence of environmental cues to distance greatly enhanced stereoscopic depth constancy at distances of 4.5 and 9.0 m. We conclude that stereopsis is an effective cue for depth discrimination and estimation for distances beyond those traditionally assumed. In normal environments, distance information from other sources such as perspective can be effective in scaling depth from disparity.

Stereoscopic perception of real depths at large distances

“…The current study extended and developed the work of Allison et al (2009), utilizing a similar experimental setup. However, we examined the stereoscopic perceptions of a much wider range of depths (from 0 to 248 m), which were presented at larger observation distances (20 or 40 m).…”

“…In a more recent study by Allison, Gillam, and Vecellio (2009), subjects were binocularly and monocularly exposed to pairs of light emitting diode (LED) targets, either in complete darkness or when the foreground of the laboratory was lit (i.e., up to the nearer of the two LED targets). The region between the two LEDs was always dark and provided only binocular disparity information about depth.…”

Apparent depth of pictures reflected by a mirror: The plastic effect

“…Interestingly, this observation is in contrast with the apparent depth between objects in a three-dimensional scene, which is reduced for monocular rather than binocular viewing (Allison, Gillam, & Vecellio, 2009;Foley, 1980;Frisby, Buckley, & Duke, 1996;Gogel, 1962;Grant, 1942;Koenderink, van Doorn, & Kappers, 1995;Komoda & Ono, 1974;McKee & Taylor, 2010;Swenson, 1932). Schlosberg (1941) explained augmentation of the plastic effect in monocular conditions by the reduction of "flatness" cues.…”

Stereoscopic First Person View System for Drone Navigation

“…In addition, we believe that further experimentation with the baselines of the cameras might be interesting. Human baseline is limited to 19 m (Allison et al, 2009), but with camera capturing systems, this can be modified and enable greater distance estimations when necessary. Our system had also issues that would make it hard to operate in a real environment, such as the weight of the setup, 3.3 kg with batteries, which significantly reduces the remaining payload capacity of the drone and the latency of 250 ms, which makes it impossible to fly the drone at speeds higher than 7 m/s.…”

“…The TPV type of operation creates control and safety problems, since operators have difficulty guessing the drone orientation and may not be able to keep eye contact with them even at short distances (>100 m). Furthermore, given that effective human stereo vision is limited to 19 m (Allison et al, 2009), it is hard for humans to estimate drone's position relative to nearby objects to avoid obstacles and control attitude/altitude. In such cases, the ground control gets more challenging the further the drone gets from the operator.…”