Topological aspects of apparent visual motion

Summary and Conclusions

Linke's pioneer observations made just fifty years ago on apparent visual motion conditioned by pairs of stimulus objects which differ in form, has been here experimentally elaborated and brought into relation with topology. Both deformations and connectivities have been studied. Topological limits of t-motion have been encountered in this investigation. Linke's concept of “identity”, which he regarded as the psychological key to seen movement, should now be replaced by the modern, powerful concept of invariance. Topology, with its biunique point-order structure, is inevitably brought into relation with the phenomena of apparent movement. There appears to be a substantial isomorphic relation between topological deformation in the stimulus objects and seen movement, although there are some topological inhibitors of motion. The perceptual contents of apparent motion do not evidence positional and form properties as separated parts: The contents are funded as an integrated kinematic whole.