Open AccessThe blur horopter: Retinal conjugate surface in binocular viewing
Author(s) -
Agostino Gibaldi,
Vivek Labhishetty,
Larry N. Thibos,
Martin S. Banks
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
journal of vision
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.126
H-Index - 113
ISSN - 1534-7362
DOI - 10.1167/jov.21.3.8
Subject(s) - monocular , binocular vision , visual field , binocular disparity , emmetropia , computer vision , mathematics , artificial intelligence , computer science , optics , physics , visual acuity , refractive error
From measurements of wavefront aberrations in 16 emmetropic eyes, we calculated where objects in the world create best-focused images across the central 27∘(diameter) of the retina. This is the retinal conjugate surface. We calculated how the surface changes as the eye accommodates from near to far and found that it mostly maintains its shape. The conjugate surface is pitched top-back, meaning that the upper visual field is relatively hyperopic compared to the lower field. We extended the measurements of best image quality into the binocular domain by considering how the retinal conjugate surfaces for the two eyes overlap in binocular viewing. We call this binocular extension the blur horopter . We show that in combining the two images with possibly different sharpness, the visual system creates a larger depth of field of apparently sharp images than occurs with monocular viewing. We examined similarities between the blur horopter and its analog in binocular vision: the binocular horopter. We compared these horopters to the statistics of the natural visual environment. The binocular horopter and scene statistics are strikingly similar. The blur horopter and natural statistics are qualitatively, but not quantitatively, similar. Finally, we used the measurements to refine what is commonly referred to as the zone of clear single binocular vision.