UNIT-1

By: Dr. Khusboo

DEPTH PERCEPTION
 Depth perception refers to the ability to see the world in 3D and judge how far
away/close objects are from and to us. This judgement is very important for
navigating everyday life. How we move from one point to another relies quite
heavily on our ability to perceive depth, and even picking up an object, such as
your pencil, relies on the ability to judge depth.
 For example, if we were crossing the road and couldn't judge how far away a
car was, it would be a bit of a disaster.
 Cues in psychology are a stimulus, object or event that guides or influences
behaviour.
 Two types of cues that affect how we see things are monocular and binocular
depth cues.
MONOCULAR CUES
 The word “monocular” means “with one eye.” Monocular cues are all the ways
that a single eye helps you see and process what you’re looking at.
 Monocular cues play a huge role in how you perceive the world around you.
 Types of monocular cues:
 HEIGHT IN PLANE
 RELATIVE SIZE
 OCCLUSION OR INTERPOSITION
 LINEAR PERSPECTIVE
 AERIAL PERSPECTIVE
 LIGHT AND SHADE
 MONOCULAR MOTION PARALLAX
HEIGHT IN PLANE
 Height in plane is when objects placed higher up appear or would be interpreted as further
away. Height in plane is an example of a monocular depth cue.
 Imagine a sheet of paper with a picture of two houses, with one placed higher than the other.
 In this case, we would interpret the higher-up house as further away and the lower-down as
closer.
RELATIVE SIZE
 If there are two objects that are the same size (e.g., two trees of the same size), the object that
is closer will look larger.
 Tree number 1 seems closer because it is larger, and tree number 2 seems further away
because it is smaller.
OCCLUSION OR
INTERPOSITION
 This is when one object partially hides another object. The object in front overlapping the
other is perceived to be closer than the partially hidden one.
 The rectangle appears closer as it overlaps and partially hides the triangle.
LINEAR PERSPECTIVE
 Linear perspective happens when the angles of two adjacent objects
and the distance between them look smaller and smaller. This
causes your eye to interpret those objects as increasingly farther
away from you.
 In other words, This is when two parallel lines come together at
some point in the horizon; the closer together the two lines are, the
further away they seem.
A common example is a road that appears to converge in the
distance. The closer the parallel lines appear to get, the further away
it seems.
AERIAL PERSPECTIVE
 Aerial perspective is what makes far away objects look a bit blurrier, lighter in color, and less
detailed than those closer to you.
 Think about mountains off in the distance. They tend to be much lighter in shade and color
than a mountain that’s much closer to you.
 This happens because blue light scatters into the air when it interacts with the atmosphere —
which often makes distant objects appear light blue.
 Contrast of color also plays a role in aerial perspective.
 Objects that are farther away tend to have rough, blurry edges because of the scattered light in
the air, and colors tend to blur together. Closer objects, on the other hand, have more defined
edges and a starker contrast of color.
 Big objects, like mountains and skyscrapers, seem bigger and clearer when the air is clean
because there are fewer particles to scatter the light.
LIGHT AND SHADE
The way that light hits an object creates shades of light and dark.
This tells your eyes where an object sits in relation to the light and to
objects nearby.
MONOCULAR MOTION
PARALLAX
 The monocular motion parallax happens when you move your head and objects that are
farther away appear to move at a different speed than those closer to you.
 You may notice that objects nearer to you appear to be moving in the opposite direction of the
way your head is going. But objects farther away from you seem to follow the direction of
your head.
BINOCULAR DEPTH CUES
 Together, your two eyes combine to give you binocular cues. This
refers to visual information you get from the overlapping of each
eye’s monocular cues.
 Binocular cues create a three-dimensional image of the world one
views. There are two types of binocular depth cues: convergence
and retinal disparity.
 Types:
 CONVERGENCE
 RETINAL DISPARITY
CONVERGENCE
 To present images of what we see onto the retinas (the layer of tissue at the back of the eyes
that sense light and transports images to the brain), the two eyes must rotate inwards toward
each other. The closer an object is, the more the eyes must rotate.
 The brain uses this information (amount of rotation) as a cue to construe how far away an
object is. This works by detecting muscle differences the convergence causes in our eyes and
analysing that information to decide the depth. It's a feedback tool, in a sense.
 A binocular depth cues example: if you were to hold a marble in front of your face and move it
closer to your face, eventually, your eyes would begin to cross.
 Your brain would then be able to tell how close the object was to your face by detecting how
much your eyes were 'crossing', using the muscles.
RETINAL DISPARITY
 When we see something, slightly different images of what we see are sent to each retina (as our eyes are
apart, each eye sees things from a slightly different angle).
 However, we don't view the world as a series of two images. This is because the brain processes the
degree of difference or disparity between the two images and assembles one image for us that has depth,
height, and width.
 The disparity between the two images allows the brain to calculate how far away an object is. An object
close to us has a large disparity, and an object far away has a small disparity.
 Give yourself a thumbs up, and then extend your arm so the thumb up is far away from you. Close one
eye and then the other, so you're only looking at your thumb with the left eye, the right, then the left, etc.
 You'll notice that your thumb moves back and forth a little (your brain thinks the thumb isn't moving
much, so it must be far away, i.e., small disparity).
 Now put your thumb super close to you (but not so close it's blurry) and do the same thing, closing one
eye and then the other. You'll notice that your thumb moves back and forth a lot (your brain thinks the
thumb is moving a lot and that the thumb must be closer to you, i.e., large disparity).
TOP-DOWN PROCESSING
 Top-down processing is the interpretation of incoming information based on prior knowledge,
experiences, and expectations.
 It relies on knowledge and experiences. In other words, you use what you already know to
make sense of the new information you encounter. It refers to how our brain utilizes existing
knowledge and expectations to interpret new sensory information.
 Instead of interpreting the world based solely on the information we gather from our senses,
the brain uses pre-existing concepts, ideas, and knowledge to comprehend sensory input.
 "Traditionally, “top-down perception” refers to situations in which context, learning, or
expectation alters a perceptual process," write researcher Nicholas Gaspelin,
 In top-down processing, perceptions begin with the most general and move
toward the more specific. Our expectations and prior knowledge heavily
influence these perceptions.
 For example, if half of a tree branch is covered, you usually have an idea of
what it looks like, even though half is not being shown. This is because you
know what trees look like from prior knowledge.
 Top-down processing helps simplify our understanding of the world. It allows
us to quickly make sense of all the information our senses bring in to navigate
the world more effectively, recognize patterns, and make decisions.
BOTTOMS-UP PROCESSING
 Bottom-up processing is an explanation for perceptions that start with an incoming stimulus
and work upward until a representation of the object is formed in our minds. This process
suggests that our perceptual experience is based entirely on the sensory stimuli that we piece
together using only data that is available from our senses.
 Bottom-up processing can be defined as sensory analysis that begins at the entry level—with
what our senses can detect. This form of processing begins with sensory data and goes up to
the brain's integration of this sensory information. Information is carried in one direction,
starting with the retina and proceeding to the visual cortex.
• This process suggests that processing begins with a perception of the stimuli and is fueled by
basic mechanisms developed through evolution. Unlike top-down processing, bottom-up
processing is purely data-driven and requires no previous knowledge or learning. Bottom-up
processing takes place as it happens.
• It is Data driven, focuses on incoming sensory data and takes place in real time.