Can People Infer Distance in a 2D Scene Using the Visual Size and Position of an Object?
Depth information is limited in a 2D scene and for people to perceive the distance of an object, they need to rely on pictorial cues such as perspective, size constancy and elevation in the scene. In this study, we tested whether people could use an object’s size and its position in a 2D image to de...
| Main Authors: | , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
MDPI AG
2022-05-01
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| Series: | Vision |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2411-5150/6/2/25 |
| _version_ | 1827655747487399936 |
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| author | John Jong-Jin Kim Laurence R. Harris |
| author_facet | John Jong-Jin Kim Laurence R. Harris |
| author_sort | John Jong-Jin Kim |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Depth information is limited in a 2D scene and for people to perceive the distance of an object, they need to rely on pictorial cues such as perspective, size constancy and elevation in the scene. In this study, we tested whether people could use an object’s size and its position in a 2D image to determine its distance. In a series of online experiments, participants viewed a target representing their smartphone rendered within a 2D scene. They either positioned it in the scene at the distance they thought was correct based on its size or adjusted the target to the correct size based on its position in the scene. In all experiments, the adjusted target size and positions were not consistent with their initially presented positions and sizes and were made larger and moved further away on average. Familiar objects influenced adjusted position from size but not adjusted size from position. These results suggest that in a 2D scene, (1) people cannot use an object’s visual size and position relative to the horizon to infer distance reliably and (2) familiar objects in the scene affect perceived size and distance differently. The differences found demonstrate that size and distance perception processes may be independent. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-09T22:12:58Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-17cf52125647401dab077553f5a87d03 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2411-5150 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-09T22:12:58Z |
| publishDate | 2022-05-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Vision |
| spelling | doaj.art-17cf52125647401dab077553f5a87d032023-11-23T19:27:56ZengMDPI AGVision2411-51502022-05-01622510.3390/vision6020025Can People Infer Distance in a 2D Scene Using the Visual Size and Position of an Object?John Jong-Jin Kim0Laurence R. Harris1Centre for Vision Research, York University, Toronto, ON M3J 1P3, CanadaCentre for Vision Research, York University, Toronto, ON M3J 1P3, CanadaDepth information is limited in a 2D scene and for people to perceive the distance of an object, they need to rely on pictorial cues such as perspective, size constancy and elevation in the scene. In this study, we tested whether people could use an object’s size and its position in a 2D image to determine its distance. In a series of online experiments, participants viewed a target representing their smartphone rendered within a 2D scene. They either positioned it in the scene at the distance they thought was correct based on its size or adjusted the target to the correct size based on its position in the scene. In all experiments, the adjusted target size and positions were not consistent with their initially presented positions and sizes and were made larger and moved further away on average. Familiar objects influenced adjusted position from size but not adjusted size from position. These results suggest that in a 2D scene, (1) people cannot use an object’s visual size and position relative to the horizon to infer distance reliably and (2) familiar objects in the scene affect perceived size and distance differently. The differences found demonstrate that size and distance perception processes may be independent.https://www.mdpi.com/2411-5150/6/2/25perceived sizeperceived distancepictorial cues2D scene perception |
| spellingShingle | John Jong-Jin Kim Laurence R. Harris Can People Infer Distance in a 2D Scene Using the Visual Size and Position of an Object? Vision perceived size perceived distance pictorial cues 2D scene perception |
| title | Can People Infer Distance in a 2D Scene Using the Visual Size and Position of an Object? |
| title_full | Can People Infer Distance in a 2D Scene Using the Visual Size and Position of an Object? |
| title_fullStr | Can People Infer Distance in a 2D Scene Using the Visual Size and Position of an Object? |
| title_full_unstemmed | Can People Infer Distance in a 2D Scene Using the Visual Size and Position of an Object? |
| title_short | Can People Infer Distance in a 2D Scene Using the Visual Size and Position of an Object? |
| title_sort | can people infer distance in a 2d scene using the visual size and position of an object |
| topic | perceived size perceived distance pictorial cues 2D scene perception |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2411-5150/6/2/25 |
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