Definition
Depth perception is a process of recovering distances to and between objects from a two-dimensional retinal projection or from a two-dimensional image depicting a three-dimensional scene.
Introduction
Depth perception is a classic case of an ill-defined problem in vision: In principle, an infinite number of three-dimensional configurations can produce the same two-dimensional retinal projection (Fig. 1; Lowe 1985; Marr 1982; Palmer 1999). To cope with this “inverse optics” problem, human visual system makes a number of assumptions about the likely arrangement of 3D objects given a specific 2D input (e.g., that the occluding object is usually located closer to an observer than the occluded object). These assumptions, together with information contained in retinal projection (or projections) are then used by visual system to recover position of the objects in depth.
An illustration of ambiguous nature of depth perception. A two-dimensional projection...
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Lazareva, O. (2021). Depth Perception. In: Shackelford, T.K., Weekes-Shackelford, V.A. (eds) Encyclopedia of Evolutionary Psychological Science. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-19650-3_2758
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