AUTHOR=Lappin Joseph S. , Bell Herbert H. 

TITLE=The coherent organization of dynamic visual images

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Computer Science

VOLUME=Volume 5 - 2023

YEAR=2023

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/computer-science/articles/10.3389/fcomp.2023.1124230

DOI=10.3389/fcomp.2023.1124230

ISSN=2624-9898

ABSTRACT=Biological vision relies on the intrinsic spatiotemporal structure of a stream of continuously varying images.  We review converging psychophysical and physiological evidence that our perceptual organization of surfaces, objects, and motions derives from the spatiotemporal structure of dynamic retinal images.  Visual acuity, temporal resolution, and contrast sensitivity have been found to involve (a) motion-produced increases in image contrast, (b) coherent phase relations among temporally varying retinal signals, and (c) physiological preservation of spatiotemporal structure from retina to cortex.  Moreover, psychophysical evidence shows that the spatiotemporal structure of dynamic retinal images carries precise information for perceiving environmental surfaces and motions — consistent with the corresponding differential structures of spatiotemporal images and environmental surfaces.