Stereo vision requires an explicit encoding of vertical disparity.

Abstract

Vertical disparities influence the perception of 3D depth, but little is known about the neuronal mechanisms underlying this. One possibility is that these perceptual effects are mediated by an explicit encoding of two-dimensional disparity. Recently, J. C. A. Read and B. G. Cumming (2006) pointed out that current psychophysical and physiological evidence is consistent with a much more economical one-dimensional encoding. Almost all relevant information about vertical disparity could in theory be extracted from the activity of purely horizontal-disparity sensors. Read and Cumming demonstrated that such a 1D system would experience Ogle's induced effect, a famous illusion produced by vertical disparity. Here, we test whether the brain employs this 1D encoding, using a version of the induced effect stimulus that simulates the viewing geometry at infinity and thus removes the cues which are otherwise available to the 1D model. This condition was compared to the standard induced effect stimulus, presented on a frontoparallel screen at finite viewing distance. We show that the induced effects experienced under the two conditions are indistinguishable. This rules out the 1D model proposed by Read and Cumming and shows that vertical disparity, including sign, must be explicitly encoded across the visual field.