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The height of a stereokinetic cone: A quantitative determination of a 3-D effect from 2-D moving patterns without a “rigidity assumption”

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Summary

When a circular disc with an eccentric dot painted on it is set in slow circular motion, a three-dimensional solid object appears to the observer: the stereokinetic cone. The cone shows a well-defined height and tilt. All current theories of how the visual system can extract 3-D percepts from 2-D moving patterns, are based on a “rigidity assumption” hypothesis. But this assumption cannot explain why the stereokinetic cone appears to have a well-defined height. An alternative hypothesis is proposed here, which avoids the rigidity assumption and is based on a minimization process of the relative velocity differences between all the points of the rotating pattern. The hypothesis allows a quantitative prediction of the stereokinetic cone height both when the rotating disc is circular and when it is elliptical. The predictions are in good agreement with previously reported experimental results and with our own observations.

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  1. Dipartimento di Psicologia Generale, Università di Padova, Piazza Capitaniato, 3, I-35100, Padova, Italy

    Mario Zanforlin

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Zanforlin, M. The height of a stereokinetic cone: A quantitative determination of a 3-D effect from 2-D moving patterns without a “rigidity assumption”. Psychol. Res 50, 162–172 (1988). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00310177

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