Depth Perception through Circular Movements of Dots

Abstract

Elements that move with velocity gradients have been shown to give the impression of depth. In this study, it was found that dots in circular motion around a line of sight give a depth impression corresponding to the gradients of the angular velocities of circular motion on a screen. The results of two experiments show that depth perception through circular motion is as effective as that through expansion or spiral motion, but less effective than that through lateral motion parallax when the local speed distributions on the screen are matched. The present depth effect shows that expansion-contraction, spiral, and circular motions are a continuum in terms of producing depth effects; they differ from lateral motion parallax.