title: Modification of depth and distance perception caused by long-term wearing of left-right reversing spectacles.
abstract: For 35 to 39 days, four observers wore continuously left-right reversing spectacles which pseudoscopically reverse the order of binocular disparity and direction of convergence. In three tests, we investigated how the visual system copes with the transformation of depth and distance information due to the reversing spectacles. In stereogram observation, after a few days of wearing the spectacles. the observers sometimes perceived a depth order which was opposite to the depth order that they had perceived in the pre-spectacle-wearing period. Monocular depth cues contributed more to depth perception in the spectacle-wearing period than they did in the pre-spectacle-wearing period. While the perceived distance significantly decreased during the spectacle-wearing period, we found no evidence of adaptive change in distance perception. The results indicate that the visual system adapts itself to the transformed situation by not only changing the processing of disparity but also by changing the relative efficiency of each cue in determining apparent depth.
authors.affiliation: Department of Perceptual Sciences and Design Engineering, Yamaguchi University, 1-16-2 Tokiwadai, Ube, Yamaguchi 755-8611, Japan. ichikawa@kde.yamaguchi-u.ac.jp
authors.forename: Makoto
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ichikawa
authors.forename: Takahiko
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kimura
authors.forename: Hiroyuki
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Egusa
authors.forename: Makiko
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Nakatsuka
authors.forename: Jun
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Amano
authors.forename: Tomomi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Ueda
authors.forename: Takara
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Tashiro
mesh_terms: D000222:Adaptation, Physiological; D003290:Convergence, Ocular / Q000502:physiology; D003463:Cues; D003867:Depth Perception / Q000502:physiology*; D005139:Eyeglasses; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D012160:Retina / Q000502:physiology; D013028:Space Perception / Q000502:physiology*; D015348:Vision, Binocular / Q000502:physiology