Temporal characteristics of depth perception from motion parallax

Temporal characteristics of depth perception from motion parallax were examined by modulating parallax intermittently while observers moved their head side to side. In Experiment 1, parallax of a fixed value was introduced only for the central 1/6 to 5/6 portion of each component head movement. It was found that the perceived depth was proportional to the temporal average of parallax-specified depth. In addition, observers did not notice any abrupt temporal change of depth. In Experiment 2, parallax was increased or decreased once per trial either at the center or the end of one of the component head movements, and observers judged the direction of depth change. Again, observers did not notice any abrupt change of depth. The percentage of correct responses was almost constant for large change amplitudes. Reaction times to the change were over 1 s even for the largest changes, and it increased for smaller change amplitudes. These results indicate that the mechanism for depth from parallax has a configuration similar to that proposed for structure from motion, and that it involves a temporal integration process with a relatively long time-constant.