Does Vision Extract Absolute Distance from Vergence?

Abstract

Since Kepler (1604) and Descartes (1638), ‘vergence’ (the angular rotation of the eyes) has been thought of as one of our most important absolute distance cues. But vergence has never been tested as an absolute distance cue divorced from obvious confounding cues such as binocular disparity. In this article we control for these confounding cues for the first time by gradually manipulating vergence, and find that observers fail to accurately judge distance from vergence. We consider a number of different interpretations of these results, and argue that the most principled response to these results is to question the general effectiveness of vergence as an absolute distance cue. Given other absolute distance cues (such as motion parallax and vertical disparities) are limited in application, this poses a real challenge to our contemporary understanding of visual scale.