Configuration stereopsis: a new look at the depth-disparity relation

Recovering shape in three dimensions has obvious importance for visual perception. Hence one principal goal for stereopsis should be to recover good estimates of 3D shape. But this is impossible if disparity processing is hardwired, because at different fixation distances a fixed angular disparity will correspond to quite different distance increments. An experiment confirms previous evidence that the disparity computation is not hardwired. Specifically, as fixation distance changes, the perceived relation between depth and disparity changes. The changes are consistent with a remapping that partially preserves the constancy of 3D shape over a wide range of fixation distances.