Cite as:
Wang Q, Idesawa M, 2005, "Surface perception detecting method by using the Poggendorff illusion in binocular viewing" Perception 34 ECVP Abstract Supplement

Surface perception detecting method by using the Poggendorff illusion in binocular viewing

Q Wang, M Idesawa

Surface perception is an essential function of the visual system. In the Poggendorff illusion, two collinear diagonal lines obliquely abutting the inducing element are perceived as shifted. We observed this illusion binocularly; then we devised a Poggendorff configuration without physical contact between the line element and the inducing element. By using the newly devised configuration, we proved, by controlling the perceptual depth of the inducing element without any changes of the conventionally considered factors in this illusion, that the nearer perceptual depth of the inducing surface is crucial for perceiving the illusion. In addition, we proved that the nearer opaque-surface perception of the inducing element is indispensable to perceiving the illusion in the configuration without physical contact. On the basis of these facts, we developed a probing method for opaque-surface perception, in which the condition of opaque-surface perception could be detected from the occurrence of the Poggendorff illusion. We tested several concrete examples confirming the effectiveness of this probing method, and showed that the opaque-illusory-surface perception could be detected effectively with the proposed method. Furthermore, we used this method to investigate opaque and transparent properties of the surface; then we demonstrated the capability of this method by applying it in the transition area of opaque to transparent. We believe that the developed probing method of opaque-surface perception with Poggendorff configuration without physical contact could be a way of achieving better understanding of the surface-perception mechanism of the human visual system.

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