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Chapter 7 of 10All chapters

Chapter 7 of 10

Depth and space

Building three dimensions from two.

The cues

Binocular disparity compares the two eyes. Occlusion, relative size, perspective, texture gradient and motion parallax all work with one eye alone.

  • Losing one eye reduces depth judgement mainly at close range.
  • Artists exploit the monocular cues to create depth on a flat surface.

Size constancy

A person walking away shrinks on the retina and does not appear to shrink. That correction underlies several famous illusions, including the Ames room.