Thesis (Ph. D.)--York University, 2001. Graduate Programme in Psychology. / Typescript. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 178-190). Also available on the Internet. MODE OF ACCESS via web browser by entering the following URL: http://wwwlib.umi.com/cr/yorku/fullcit?pNQ66349.

Thesis (M.A.)--York University, 2002. / Typescript. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 87-98). Also available on the Internet. MODE OF ACCESS via web browser by entering the following URL: http://wwwlib.umi.com/cr/yorku/fullcit?pMQ71595.

AIM: The primary purpose of this thesis was to evaluate the pattern of changes to accommodation and phoria when pre-presbyopic individuals perform near work for 20 minutes with +2D lenses. In addition, the thesis also investigates the effect of the accommodative vergence cross-link (AV/A) and age on binocular adaptation to addition lenses. METHODS: Accommodation was measured using the PowerRefractor (Multichannel Systems, Germany) and phoria was measured using the modified Thorington Technique. Twenty four pre-presbyopic and emmetropic individuals (11 adults and 13 children) participated in the study. All participants fixated a near target at a distance of 33 cm for 20 minutes with +2D (lens condition) and without (no lens condition) +2D addition lenses. Binocular and monocular changes in accommodation and near phoria were measured at the outset and at 3, 6, 9, 15 and 20 minute intervals. RESULTS: Effect of +2D lenses on accommodation and phoria: The emmetropic adult participants exhibited lag of accommodation under the no lens condition (binocular: 0.51 ?? 0.12D; monocular: 0.64 ?? 0.15D) that were eliminated (under monocular viewing) and reversed (exceeded demand by 0.51 ?? 0.11 D under binocular viewing condition) with the addition of +2D lenses. The near phoria showed a significant increase towards exophoria by 6 ?? 0.56 ???D upon introduction of +2D lenses. Sustained near viewing with +2 D lenses resulted in significant reduction of the binocular focus alone (not monocular focus) after 3 minutes of binocular viewing (magnitude of reduction: 0.24D; P<0.01). The exophoria also showed a concomitant reduction after 3 minutes of fixation at the near task (Magnitude of reduction: 3.6 ?? 0.6 ???D; P<0.001). The magnitude and rate of vergence adaptation, determined using an exponential function, was found to be 4.6 ?? 0.21 ???D and 2.12 minutes respectively for the emmetropic adult participants. Effect of age on vergence adaptation: A pattern of significant reduction in phoria and binocular focus similar to the adult participants was observed in young children. Analysis of the vergence adaptation curves in the two age groups did not show any significant difference in both the magnitude as well as the rate of phoria adaptation within the age range tested (Magnitude of adaptation - Adults: 4.65 ???D; Children: 4.51 ???D; P > 0.05; Time constants -Adults: 2.12 minutes: Children: 1.53 minutes, P > 0.05). Effect of AV/A ratio on vergence adaptation: The stimulus (St-AV/A) and the response AV/A (R-AV/A) ratios were determined and the participants were divided into two groups (low and high AV/A ratio) under both the conditions. The result indicated that, under both testing conditions (stimulus and response AV/A), the individuals with higher AV/A ratios demonstrated greater magnitudes of vergence adaptation than those individuals with lower ratios (Magnitude of adaptation: Low St-AV/A = 4.12 ???D; Low R-AV/A= 4.25???D; High St-AV/A = 4.88 ???D; High R-AV/A = 4.65???D; P<0.05) CONCLUSIONS: Introduction of near addition lenses initiated an increase in exophoria and convergence driven accommodation. Vergence adaptation occurred after 3 minutes of binocular viewing thus reducing exophoria and convergence driven accommodation. The magnitude and completeness of phoria adaptation were seen to depend on an individuals AV/A ratio with greater magnitude and incomplete adaptation observed in participants with higher AV/A ratios. Age, within the limits of the study did not appear to influence phoria adaptation with near addition lenses.

A model of stereopsis is proposed in which information from each eye's image is organised as a scale-based hierarchy before binocular comparison. The algorithm incorporates coarse-to-fine matching (like Marr and Poggio, 1979) but differs from previous models in that the position, and hence disparity, of features is defined relatively rather than by their retinal co-ordinate. Thus, fine scale disparities are measured and recorded relative to coarse scale disparities. Local surface slant and curvature is represented explicitly at a range of spatial scales. The theory is based on a hierarchical model of encoding position (Watt, 1988). The first experiment investigates the time course of shape discrimination in random dot stereograms. The results are compatible with a model in which the scale of analysis changes from coarse to fine over the first second of viewing. The second experiment measures the magnitude of a new "3-D" Müller-Lyer illusion and compares it to that of the classical (2-D) illusion. Both these and the cyclopean Müller-Lyer illusion are consistent with a model in which hierarchical encoding of position is used by the visual system for 2-D (length comparison) and 3-D (slant) judgements. The third experiment compares the detection of large disparities and large displacements. "D_max" for the motion and stereo tasks is shown to be similar over a wide range of dot densities. The results are interpreted as evidence that similar spatial primitives are used in the correspondence process in both domains. The spacing of MIRAGE centroids (Watt and Morgan, 1985) fit the data well. The proposed hierarchical model is similar to that put forward by Mitchison and McKee (1987), although their scheme was not based on spatial scale. The model bridges the gap between a primal and a 2 1/2-D sketch (Marr, 1982) and has important implications for many issues within stereopsis.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Alabama at Birmingham, 2007. / Additional advisors: Timothy Gawne, Richard Gray, Michael Loop, Michael Sloane, Donald Twieg. Description based on contents viewed Mar. 3, 2008; title from title screen. Includes bibliographical references (p. 88-97).

Thesis (M.Phil.)--Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, 2008. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 85-90).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Carleton University, 2001. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 119-125). Also available in electronic format on the Internet.

Tese (doutorado) - Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina, Centro Tecnológico. Programa de Pós-Graduação em Engenharia Elétrica / Made available in DSpace on 2013-07-15T23:21:05Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 227373.pdf: 2908272 bytes, checksum: 8b5cd85c65cdfde6672ecc1964db25e3 (MD5) / Uma imagem fornece uma representação em duas dimensões de uma cena. Durante o processo de formação desta representação, todas as informações 3D são perdidas. Contudo, tais informações podem ser recuperadas, através da visão estéreo, se duas imagens de uma mesma cena, mas de perspectivas diferentes, estão disponíveis. No entanto, isto só é possível se o sistema estiver calibrado. Por isso, a calibração de câmeras é indispensável em diversas aplicações. Neste trabalho, realiza-se uma análise crítica das diversas técnicas de calibração existentes na literatura. Além disso, novos métodos de calibração de um sistema de visão binocular são propostos. Basicamente, as técnicas propostas consistem em, inicialmente, recuperar a geometria epipolar e realizar uma calibração projetiva. Em seguida, os pontos de um gabarito de uma única dimensão são utilizados para atualizar da calibração projetiva para a euclideana. Como é utilizado um gabarito de dimensões reduzidas e de fácil confecção, os métodos de calibração propostos são bastante flexíveis e de fácil execução. Para auxiliar a tarefa de calibração, novos algoritmos de correspondência de pontos e estimação da matriz fundamental também são propostos. Em especial, o algoritmo de estimação da matriz fundamental utiliza um conjunto de correspondências virtuais que definem um plano também virtual. Evidentemente, tal plano induz uma homografia entre as imagens estéreo. O paralaxe de correspondências que não satisfazem tal homografia permite estimar um dos epipolos do sistema e, portanto, caracterizar a matriz fundamental. A principal vantagem do método proposto é obter uma boa estimação utilizando uma parametrização com apenas cinco incógnitas. Experimentos em imagens reais e sintéticas validam as técnicas propostas, mostrando como seu desempenho varia quanto a quantidade de ruído e número de correspondências existentes.

The vergence and accommodation systems, which are examples of physiological control systems, enable us to acquire and maintain clear single images of objects at a variety of distances in our visual world. Vergence and accommodation systems are interact with one each other and have both visual and non-visual components thus adding to their complexity. This thesis reviews the evolution of control theory models of vergence and accommodation from the 1960's to the present day and has outlined several properties of the systems which require further study. The thesis introduces the concept of Fuzzy Logic Control (FLC) to models of oculomotor control. FLC offers a new approach to modelling natural control systems and produces more realistic models than those obtained using conventional control theory techniques. Several characteristics of the vergence and accommodation systems were investigated with the aim of incorporating experimental data into control theory models using conventional techniques and FLC. The accommodation response to anisometropic stimuli was measured objectively. No evidence of a non-consensual response was found, from which it can be concluded that accommodation is consensual. A control theory model of binocular accommodation was simulated to illustrate the control strategies adopted by the accommodation during anisometropic stimulation. A Virtual Reality (VR) stimulus was used to investigate the possibility of adaptation of the crosslink components of vergence and accommodation by placing different demands on the vergence and accommodation systems. Crosslink behaviour was altered as a result of the VR stimulus which suggests that the links between vergence and accommodation (accommodative vergence and vergence accommodation) are amenable to adaptation. Control theory models were used to illustrate the effects of the VR stimulus on vergence and accommodation. The effect of proximity was investigated by measuring accommodation responses in the presence and absence of proximal cues. The effect of proximal cues under closed loop conditions was found to be minimal which suggests that proximal cues are only effective when visual cues are reduced. The results were extended to include the vergence system and a FLC model of proximal vergence and accommodation was implemented. Simulation of the model produced similar findings to a previous study which supports the use of FLC in models of oculomotor control. Voluntary vergence and accommodation were measured objectively under open loop conditions in a group of naive subjects. All subjects were able to produce voluntary responses corresponding to near and far. The ability of subjects to distinguish intermediate distances was more varied. The results show that voluntary responses can be produced without training and it is suggested that voluntary vergence and accommodation may be an important mode of response. The results were included in a control model of voluntary vergence and accommodation using FLC. The work presented provides support for the use of Fuzzy Logic in models of oculomotor control which can be used to improve models and complement existing models using conventional techniques.

Doctor of Philosophy / Binocular rivalry refers to the perceptual alternation that occurs while viewing incompatible images, in which one monocular image is dominant and the other is suppressed. Rivalry has been closely studied but the neural site at which it is initiated is still controversial. The central claim of this thesis is that primary visual cortex is responsible for its initiation. This claim is supported by evidence from four experimental studies. The first study (described in Chapter 4) introduces the methodology for measuring visual sensitivity during dominance and suppression and compares several methods to see which yields the greatest difference between these two sensitivities. Suppression depth was measured by comparing the discrimination thresholds to a brief test stimulus delivered during dominance and suppression phases. The deepest suppression was achieved after a learning period, with the test stimulus presented for 100 ms and with post-test masking. The second study (Chapter 5) compares two hypotheses for the mechanism of binocular rivalry. Under eye suppression, visibility decreases when the tested eye is being suppressed, regardless of the test stimulus’s features. Feature suppression, however, predicts that reduction of visibility is caused by suppression of a stimulus feature, no matter which eye is suppressed. Eye suppression claims that monocular channels in the visual system alternate between dominance and suppression, while Feature suppression assumes that the features of stimuli inhibit each other perceptually in the high-level cortex. The experiment used a test stimulus similar in features to one, but not the other, rivalry-inducing stimulus. Test sensitivity was found to be lowered when the test stimulus was presented to the eye whose rivalry-inducing stimulus was suppressed. Sensitivity was not lowered when the test stimulus was presented to the other eye, even when the test shared features with the suppressed stimulus. The conclusion is that feature suppression is weak or does not exist without eye suppression, and that rivalry therefore originates in the primary visual cortex. If binocular rivalry is initiated in the primary visual cortex, stimuli producing no coherent activity in that area should produce no rivalry. In the third study (Chapter 6) this idea was tested with rotating arrays of short-lifetime dots. The dots with the shortest lifetime produced an image with no rotation signal, and an infinite lifetime produced rigid rotation. Subjects could discriminate the rotation direction with high accuracy at all but the shortest lifetime. When the two eyes were presented with opposite directions of rotation, there was binocular rivalry only at the longest lifetimes. Stimuli with short lifetimes produce a coherent motion signal, since their direction can be discriminated, but do not produce rivalry. A simple interpretation of this observation is that binocular rivalry is initiated at a level in the visual hierarchy below that which supports the motion signal. The model supported by the results of previous chapters requires that binocular rivalry suppression be small in the primary visual cortex, and builds up as signals progress along the visual pathway. This model predicts that for judgements dependent on activity in high visual cortex: 1. Binocular rivalry suppression should be deep; 2. Responses should be contrast invariant. The fourth and last study (chapter 7) confirmed these predictions by measuring suppression depth in two ways. First, two similar forms were briefly presented to one eye: the difference in shapes required for their discrimination was substantially greater during suppression than during dominance. Second, the two forms were made sufficiently different in shape to allow easy discrimination at high contrast, and the contrast of these forms was lowered to find the discrimination threshold. The results in the second experiment showed that contrast sensitivity did not differ between the suppression and dominance states. This invariance in contrast sensitivity is interpreted in terms of steep contrast-response functions in cortex beyond the primary visual area. The work in this thesis supports the idea that binocular rivalry is a process distributed along the visual pathway. More importantly, the results provide several lines of evidence that binocular rivalry is initiated in primary visual cortex.