i been wondering how our eyes (or interpretation of our brain) can tell us estimation of the distance of an object. Is it because of the light speed reflecting to our eyes of is it because of the light frequency??
2007-11-27 20:58:31 · 5 answers · asked by eyeshield42 3 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Biology
Actually, it hasn't got anything to do with either the speed of light or the light frequency. The speed of light is irrelevant to our eyes (they register a response only when a photon hits the retina, regardless of how long it took to get there) and the frequency of light determines its colour.
Our eye uses several techniques concurrently to estimate depth. These include:
* Stereoscopic vision - as the first answerer says, the eyes each perceive a slightly different version of the world, and the brain can use this discrepancy to guess at the depths of various objects.
* Overlap - if part of object A appears to be blocked by the shape of object B, object A is probably behind object B. (Consider a man peeking from behind a tree.)
* Tapering - the sides of regular, parallel objects appear to get smaller the further away they are from us, so the brain can use this tapering to infer depth.
* Relative movement - as we move, objects near to us seem to whiz by our visual fields, while objects further away (e.g. mountains) move relatively much less.
Hope this helps! For more information, go to http://medicguide.blogspot.com/2007/11/how-do-our-eyesbrains-see-in-3d.html
2007-11-27 23:26:08 · answer #1 · answered by doc j 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋
It is because we have binocular vision. Each eye sees a slightly different image.
Hold up one finger at arms length in front of you. Now focus on a small object behind your finger in the distance. Close one eye after the other and watch how your finger appears to move relative to the object in the distance.
Your brain merges the information from both eyes to create depth perception.
People who have lost the vision in one eye have problems with judging distances.
If you really want to have some fun with this then hold the inner tube of a kitchen roll up to your left eye. Then place your right hand facing palm towards you up against the tube, about half way along. Open both eyes and it looks like you have a hole in your hand, because the brain has merged the images.
2007-11-27 21:06:49 · answer #2 · answered by insomnia c 4 · 2⤊ 0⤋
insomnia's answer is best.
I would add that binocular vision depends on eyes being on the front of the head and not on the side.
Predators tend to have eyes on the front of the head to best estimate distance and speed of prey. Prey animals have eyes on the side of their head so they can see almost all around themselves looking for approaching predators without being able to determine distance.
2007-11-28 02:00:45 · answer #3 · answered by Joan H 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
actually its all in our mind that interprets the distance, eyes is just the way to see different objects but it is not necessarily the one responsible for estimating distances
2007-11-27 23:06:52 · answer #4 · answered by jayveelim1323 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
It's because you have two eyes. With only one eye, you see a flat image (even if it's a ball), just like a camera. With two, you see a ball as a round object, just like in a hologram. Try judging distance using only one eye... like putting a straw on a bottle.
2007-11-27 23:01:52 · answer #5 · answered by nichol 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋