DIRECT PERCEPTION OF 3-DIMENSIONAL MOTION FROM PATTERNS OF VISUAL-MOTION

Measurements of retinal motion along a set of predetermined orientatio ns on the retina of a moving system give rise to global patterns. Beca use the form and location of these patterns depend purely on three-dim ensional (3D) motion, the effects of 3D motion and scene structure on image motion can be globally separated. The patterns are founded on ea sily derivable image measurements that depend only on the sign of imag e motion and do not require information about optical flow. The comput ational theory presented here explains how the self-motion of a system can be estimated by locating these patterns.