Welcome to the NDSU Visual Function Lab.
The current goal in our laboratory is to understand the neural mechanisms underlying the perception of depth from visual motion, the role of eye movement mechanisms, and interactions with the mechanisms serving binocular stereopsis.
Historically, the study of depth perception has focused around our ability to perceive depth through binocular vision. By seeing an object from two slightly different angles, we are able to perceive depth and judge distance based on how much of a discrepancy exists between those two angles. This is not the only way that we are able to perceive depth, however – Through watching an object in motion, we are able to perceive depth from only a single observation point. This kind of motion perception has been acknowledged as existing for many years, though little research has been performed into the mechanisms that operate behind it.
In our lab, we are researching this ability through several experiments designed to test the eyes' ability to perceive depth.