Integration of motion parallax and binocular disparity at near depth threshold level

Abstract

We examined how the consistency of depth information from motion parallax and binocular disparity cues affects the interaction of these cues at near threshold level. For five adult observers, depth thresholds were measured by the use of stimuli in which motion and/or stereo cues specified the sinusoidal undulation with different spatial frequencies and different phases. Depth sensitivity was found to change only if these cues specified an undulation with the same spatial frequency: depth sensitivity was elevated when two cues specified an undulation with the same phase, while it declined when these cues specified an undulation in counter-phase. These results suggest that the processing of these cues is founded on a common mechanism in which motion and stereo cues interact in accordance with the consistency of the surface shape and depth order of the undulation specified by each cue.