Human observers perceive a three-dimensional world even though images on the retina are two-dimensional. How this can be done has been a classic problem in visual perception. Researchers have isolated a list of "depth cues", such as binocular disparity and retinal velocity, that might inform the visual system about the third dimension. Several models have been developed to explain how perception of the third dimension depends on each cue in isolation. However, what remains to be explained is how the visual system operates when several depth cues are simultaneously available in the retinal projections.
With support of the National Science Foundation, Dr. Domini will test a new depth-cue processing model that differs from the current cue-combination model in two respects: (i) it computes relative but not absolute estimates of the third dimension of depth and (ii) rather than being formulated in terms of averaging the depth magnitudes recovered from each cue in isolation, its estimates are based on sophisticated statistical analyses of the multidimensional cue space. Experiments with human observers will determine whether the model accurately captures the phenomena of human visual perception, including both the successes and errors that that human vision shows. In addition to advancing our basic understanding of visual perception, the results of this research may aid the development of more effective computer vision principles that could be used in the design of robots.
