Perception of 3-D Illusory Surface with Binocular Viewing

Abstract

A new discovery was made concerning the illusion of 3-D surface perception in binocular fusion. From the visual stimuli of disparity given only partially along the contour of an object, the human visual system can perceive the 3-D surface (not only planar but also curved) where there are no visual stimuli to provide any depth information. There are several new findings concerning this illusion: the interaction between several illusory surfaces can be observed; an edge line can be perceived as an intersection of two illusory surfaces; the occluding effect between two illusory surfaces can be recognized; the transparent effect of the illusory surface can be seen with an adequate visual stimulus. These newly found illusory phenomena have close relations with the visual functions of 3-D space perception.