Seeing in 3-d with just one eye: stereopsis without binocular vision.

Humans can perceive depth when viewing with one eye, and even when viewing a two-dimensional picture of a three-dimensional scene. However, viewing a real scene with both eyes produces a more compelling three-dimensional experience of immersive space and tangible solid objects. A widely held belief is that this qualitative visual phenomenon (stereopsis) is a by-product of binocular vision. In the research reported here, we empirically established, for the first time, the qualitative characteristics associated with stereopsis to show that they can occur for static two-dimensional pictures without binocular vision. Critically, we show that stereopsis is a measurable qualitative attribute and that its induction while viewing pictures is not consistent with standard explanations based on depth-cue conflict or the perception of greater depth magnitude. These results challenge the conventional understanding of the underlying cause, variation, and functional role of stereopsis.