Cite as:
Vianin P, Baumberger B, Flückiger M, 1998, "Distance perception from stereoscopic information" Perception 27 ECVP Abstract Supplement

Distance perception from stereoscopic information

P Vianin, B Baumberger, M Flückiger

We are studying the development of absolute distance perception in real and virtual environments when the amount of stereoscopic information is changed.

Twelve children and the same number of adults participated in the experiment. Subjects had two mobile objects, B and C, in front of them, progressing approximatively along the line of sight. They had to assume that their own position, A, corresponded to the observation point of a virtual camera. Stereoscopic glasses were available in some predetermined conditions. As the distance between B and C varied in time, the task was to push a button every time the distance AB was perceived to be equivalent to BC (absolute bisection).

Results confirm that distance judgments are generally more precise with stereoscopic glasses than without them and that children underestimate distance AB, which is the opposite of what the adults do. However, the performance of the adults in the real conditions was poorly correlated with the bisections produced in virtual conditions, whereas the judgments of children wearing stereoscopic glasses were highly correlated with their performance in real space.

In conclusion, these data demonstrate experimentally the tendency known otherwise that children consider themselves as perceptually deeply immersed in simulated environments.

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