DEPTH ASYMMETRY IN DA-VINCI STEREOPSIS

We investigated processes that determine the depth localization of mon ocular points which have no unambiguous depth. It is known that horizo ntally adjacent binocular objects are used in depth localization and f or a distance of 25-40 min are monocular points localize to the leadin g edge of a depth constraint zone, which is an area defined by the vis ibility lines between which the points in the real world must be. We d emonstrate that this rule is not valid in complex depth scenes, Adding other disparate objects to the scene changes the localization of the monocular point in a way that cannot be explained by the da Vinci expl anation of monocular-binocular integration, The effect of additional d isparate objects is asymmetric in depth: a crossed object does not aff ect the da Vinci effect but an uncrossed object biases the depth local ization of monocular objects to uncrossed direction, We conclude that a horizontally adjacent binocular plane does not completely determine the depth localization of a monocular point and that depth spreading f rom other binocular elements biases the localization process. Copyrigh t (C) 1996 Elsevier Science Ltd