Peripheral Limitations on Spatial Vision
Abstract
This project employs psychophysical techniques to examine the limitations on spatial vision imposed by the first stages in the visual pathway. Many of the experiments capitalize on laser interferometry, which allows sinusoidal gratings to be formed on an observer's retina that are immune to optical blurring. The appearance of very high frequency gratings to distorted, or aliased, by the cone mosaic. Such moire patterns provide the basis for psychophysical techniques to assess the topography of the cone mosaic in the living eye. These measurements, accompanied by measurements of visual acuity clarify the relationship between cone spacing and resolution. Resolution was also measured under conditions in which only the M or L cones could detect the interference fringe. Visual acuity was little different than it was when both cone types detected the grating, showing that resolution is immune to photoreceptor loss under these circumstances. We also established an aliasing phenomenon caused by spatial sampling by M and L cones. Interferometry also allows measurements of the optical quality of the eye, and a viable experimental design has been established to estimate the off-axis optical quality of the eye.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jul 16, 1990
- Accession Number
- ADA226335
Entities
People
- David R. Williams
Organizations
- University of Rochester