Perceiving in Depth, Volume 3

Book excerpt: Volume 3 addresses depth-perception mechanisms other than stereopsis. It starts by reviewing monocular cues to depth, including accommodation, vergence, perspective, interposition, shading, and motion parallax. Constancies, such as the ability to perceive the sizes and shapes of objects as they move are reviewed. The ways in which different depth cues interact are discussed. One chapter reviews information used to perceive motion in depth. Pathologies of depth perception, including stereoanomalies and albanism are reviewed. Visual depth-perception mechanisms through the animal kingdom are reviewed together with a discussion of the evolution of stereoscopic vision. The next chapter describes how visual depth perception guides movements of the hand and body. The next three chapters review non-visual mechanisms of depth perception, including auditory localization, echolocation in bats and marine mammals, the lateral-line system of fish, electrolocation, and heat-sensitive sense organs. The volume ends with a discussion of mechanisms used by animals to navigate.