Howard provides a comprehensive review of how depth perception matures from the embryonic stage to post-natal life.
is a foundational work by Ian P. Howard that serves as a definitive technical review of the biological and psychophysical processes allowing humans and animals to navigate a three-dimensional world.
The volume opens by tracing visual science from the ancient Greeks to the early 20th century, highlighting the evolution of our understanding of perspective and stereoscopic vision. Perceiving in Depth Volume 1 Basic Mechanisms
Howard details historical display systems like panoramas, peepshows, and the invention of the stereoscope, which first allowed humans to artificially simulate depth.
Unlike simpler texts, this volume also provides deep dives into the motor controls of vision, such as accommodation (the eye's ability to focus) and vergence (the simultaneous movement of both eyes to maintain single binocular vision). Development and Neural Plasticity Howard provides a comprehensive review of how depth
The text follows the visual signal from the eye through the Lateral Geniculate Nucleus (LGN) to the visual cortex. It pays specific attention to the columnar organization of the cortex, which is specialized for depth-related processing.
As the first entry in a three-volume series, it focuses exclusively on the sensory and physiological "building blocks" of depth perception, moving from historical discovery to the latest in neural plasticity. The volume opens by tracing visual science from
A significant portion of the work is dedicated to the anatomy and physiology of the primate visual system.
