Institution: Independent Researcher
Poster Title: A New Binocular Stereopsis Phenomenon with Wavy Water
Abstract: Here I describe a new binocular stereopsis phenomenon with wavy water: This phenomenon may be of considerable interest to those who are interested in binocular vision as it may be used as a new experimental paradigm to explore motion-elicited stereoscopic depth perception. If one happens to stand by a swimming pool with a horizontal-and-vertical grid (HVG) painted at its bottom, when there are smooth water waves in the pool and with binocular viewing, one will see an illusory stereopsis phenomenon: Either the horizontal (H) lines or the vertical (V) ones, or both of them, of the HVG may appear to float to the surface of the water; the most dramatic case is that the H/V lines are seen at the water surface while the V/H ones are seen at the bottomi.e., they are perceived in two depth planes. This phenomenon can be easily reproduced with a small water container: Put a HVG pattern at its bottom, make smooth water waves, and the illusory depth effect can be readily observed. It can be observed with black lines over white background as well as with colored repetitive patternse.g., patterns of red/green lines over white background as well as white lines over red/green backgrounds can be used to induce this illusory depth effect. Furthermore, there is also a hysteresis (memory) effect: After all the water waves cease, the illusory depth may linger on for a few seconds. Finally, I suggest that this depth effect belongs to the same class of motion-elicited stereoscopic effects first reported by D.N. Lee (1971, Binocular stereopsis without spatial disparity) and K. Prazdny (1984, Stereopsis from kinetic and flicker edges)with a salient difference that these researchers all used random-dot stereograms as visual stimuli whereas the phenomenon described here consists of natural and continuous motions. In motion-elicited stereoscopic depth effects, the determining factor is the difference between the two eyes motion signals instead of the spatial disparity of their monocular images.