A moving observer in a three-dimensional world

Glennerster, A. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8674-2763 (2016) A moving observer in a three-dimensional world. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B-Biological Sciences, 371 (1697). 20150265. ISSN 0962-8436 doi: 10.1098/rstb.2015.0265

Abstract/Summary

For many tasks, such as retrieving a previously viewed object, an observer must form a representation of the world at one location and use it at another. A world-based 3D reconstruction of the scene built up from visual information would fulfil this requirement, something computer vision now achieves with great speed and accuracy. However, I argue that it is neither easy nor necessary for the brain to do this. I discuss biologically plausible alternatives, including the possibility of avoiding 3D coordinate frames such as ego-centric and world-based representations. For example, the distance, slant and local shape of surfaces dictate the propensity of visual features to move in the image with respect to one another as the observer’s perspective changes (through movement or binocular viewing). Such propensities can be stored without the need for 3D reference frames. The problem of representing a stable scene in the face of continual head and eye movements is an appropriate starting place for understanding the goal of 3D vision, more so, I argue, than the case of a static binocular observer.

Item Type	Article
URI	https://reading-clone.eprints-hosting.org/id/eprint/64835
Identification Number/DOI	10.1098/rstb.2015.0265
Refereed	Yes
Divisions	Interdisciplinary Research Centres (IDRCs) > Centre for Integrative Neuroscience and Neurodynamics (CINN) Life Sciences > School of Psychology and Clinical Language Sciences > Department of Psychology Life Sciences > School of Psychology and Clinical Language Sciences > Neuroscience Interdisciplinary Research Centres (IDRCs) > Centre for Cognition Research (CCR) Life Sciences > School of Psychology and Clinical Language Sciences > Perception and Action
Publisher	The Royal Society
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