Testing Stereopsis in Children

Stereopsis develops very early in life and is thought to be present in a normally developing child by six months of age. In order to develop stereopsis, multiple components of visual development must be intact including visual acuity and bifoveal fixation. Stereopsis is the most sensitive way to assess sensory fusion but can be unreliable in very young age groups due to difficulty understanding the test or instructions. It is best to choose an option with global stereopsis (high level cortical stereo), as local stereopsis may overestimate ability due to available monocular cues. Global is created using random dot stereograms (RDS) – computer-generated patterns to create a stereoscopic form, while local contains line stereograms which create horizontal retinal image disparity giving the perception of depth. Stereopsis can be affected by strabismus, amblyopia, and other binocular vision dysfunctions that interfere with visual efficiency (especially in school-age children). The chapter discusses the most commonly used clinical tests of global and local stereopsis.

The development of active binocular vision under normal and alternate rearing conditions

The development of binocular vision is an active learning process comprising the development of disparity tuned neurons in visual cortex and the establishment of precise vergence control of the eyes. We present a computational model for the learning and self-calibration of active binocular vision based on the Active Efficient Coding framework, an extension of classic efficient coding ideas to active perception. Under normal rearing conditions with naturalistic input, the model develops disparity tuned neurons and precise vergence control, allowing it to correctly interpret random dot stereograms. Under altered rearing conditions modeled after neurophysiological experiments, the model qualitatively reproduces key experimental findings on changes in binocularity and disparity tuning. Furthermore, the model makes testable predictions regarding how altered rearing conditions impede the learning of precise vergence control. Finally, the model predicts a surprising new effect that impaired vergence control affects the statistics of orientation tuning in visual cortical neurons.

How We See the World in Depth

This chapter explains how 3D vision and figure-ground perception occur in our brains. It shows how the 2D boundary and surface processes that are described in earlier chapters naturally generalize to 3D via both the FACADE (Form-And-Color-And-DEpth) theory of 3D vision and figure-ground perception, and the 3D LAMINART model that generalizes the laminar cortical circuits of Chapter 10 to 3D and naturally embodies and generalizes FACADE. Contrast-specific binocular fusion and contrast-invariant boundary formation are explained in terms of identified cells in specific layers of cortical areas V1 and V2. The correspondence problem is solved using a disparity filter that eliminates false binocular matches in layer 2/3 of V2, while it chooses the 3D binocular boundary grouping that is best supported by scenic cues. The critical role of monocular boundary information in figure-ground perception is explained and used to simulate DaVinci stereopsis percepts, along with surface-to-boundary surface contour signals and a fixation plane bias due to life-long experiences with fixated scenic features. Simulated data include the Venetian blind effect, Panum’s limiting case, dichoptic masking, 3D Craik-O’Brien-Cornsweet effect, Julesz random dot stereograms, 3D percepts of 2D pictures of shaded ellipses and discrete textures, simultaneous fusion and rivalry percepts when viewing Kulikowski and Kaufman stereograms, stimulus rivalry and eye rivalry, and bistable percepts of slanted surfaces, including the Necker cube. The size-disparity correlation enables signals from multiple scales to cooperate and compete to generate boundary representations at multiple depths. 3D percepts of natural scenes from stereograms are also simulated with these circuits.

On Stereoscopic Art

Pictorial art is typically viewed with two eyes, but it is not binocular in the sense that it requires two eyes to appreciate the art. Two-dimensional representational art works allude to depth that they do not contain, and a variety of stratagems is enlisted to convey the impression that surfaces on the picture plane are at different distances from the viewer. With the invention of the stereoscope by Wheatstone in the 1830s, it was possible to produce two pictures with defined horizontal disparities between them to create a novel impression of depth. Stereoscopy and photography were made public at about the same time and their marriage was soon cemented; most stereoscopic art is now photographic. Wheatstone sought to examine stereoscopic depth without monocular pictorial cues. He was unable to do this, but it was achieved a century later by Julesz with random-dot stereograms The early history of non-photographic stereoscopic art is described as well as reference to some contemporary works. Novel stereograms employing a wider variety of carrier patterns than random dots are presented as anaglyphs; they show modulations of pictorial surface depths as well as inclusions within a binocular picture.

Dynamics of absolute and relative disparity processing in human visual cortex

Cortical processing of binocular disparity is believed to begin in V1 where cells are sensitive to absolute disparity, followed by the extraction of relative disparity in higher visual areas. While much is known about the cortical distribution and spatial tuning of disparity-selective neurons, the relationship between their spatial and temporal properties is less well understood. Here, we use steady-state Visual Evoked Potentials and dynamic random dot stereograms to characterize the temporal dynamics of spatial mechanisms in human visual cortex that are primarily sensitive to either absolute or relative disparity. Stereograms alternated between disparate and non-disparate states at 2 Hz. By varying the spatial frequency content of the disparate fields from a planar surface to corrugated ones, we biased responses towards absolute vs. relative disparities. Reliable Components Analysis was used to derive two dominant sources from the 128 channel EEG records. The first component (RC1) was maximal over the occipital pole while the second component (RC2) was maximal over right lateral occipital electrodes. In RC1, first harmonic responses were sustained, tuned for corrugation frequency, and sensitive to the presence of disparity references, consistent with prior psychophysical sensitivity measurements. By contrast, the second harmonic, associated with transient processing, was not spatially tuned and was indifferent to references, consistent with it being generated by an absolute disparity mechanism. In RC2, the sustained response component showed similar tuning and sensitivity to references. However, sensitivity for absolute disparity dropped off, and transient signals were mainly driven by the lowest corrugation frequencies.

Perception of Virtual Stereo Objects: Spatial Perceptual Effects Caused by The Peculiarities in Interaction of Visual Mechanisms

The purpose of our study was investigation of the peculiarities of human visual perception in virtual environment created on the basis of stereo technologies. The participants were 100 adults aged from 17 to 79 years (40 males and 60 females, average age 32,9 years). Observation of virtual stereo objects was provided by computer software “Fusion” created for measuring visual fusion reserves which characterize the quality of binocular mechanisms of stereo perception. Test stimuli were random dot stereograms (RDSs) encoding a square test object moving from the screen to the observer. Separate presentation of the stimuli to the left and right eyes was based on the opposite circular polarization method. The participant’s task was to observe virtual stereo objects and describe perceived vi- sual images: their sizes, positions in depth and directions of movement. It has been found that, in conditions of view- ing the same virtual stereo objects, the participants with normally functioning mechanisms of binocular stereopsis could perceive quite different stereo images. On the basis of the perceived stereo image parameters, all participants were divided into four types. The described phenomena and the identified typology of spatial perceptual stereo effects could be considered as the consequences of restructuring interaction of visual sensory, accommodative and oculo-motor mechanisms involved in visible image formation when adapting to a virtual environment.