Foundations of spatial vision: from retinal images to perceived shapes

Vision is based on spatial correspondences between physically different structures--in environment, retina, brain, and perception. An examination of the correspondence between environmental surfaces and their retinal images showed that this consists of 2-dimensional 2nd-order differential structure (effectively 4th-order) associated with local surface shape, suggesting that this might be a primitive form of spatial information. Next, experiments on hyperacuities for detecting relative motion and binocular disparity among separated image features showed that spatial positions are visually specified by the surrounding optical pattern rather than by retinal coordinates, minimally affected by random image perturbations produced by 3-D object motions. Retinal image space, therefore, involves 4th-order differential structure. This primitive spatial structure constitutes information about local surface shape.