Optic flow

Optic flow

Optic flow is the perceived visual motion of objects as the observer moves relative to them. To an observer driving a car, a sign on the side of the road would move from the center of his vision to the side, growing as he approached. If he had 360 degree vision, this sign would proceed to move quickly past his side to his back, where it would shrink. This motion of the sign is its optic flow.

This allows a person to judge how close he is to certain objects, and how quickly he is approaching them. It is also useful for avoiding obstacles: if an object in front of an observer appears to be expanding but not moving, he is probably headed straight for it, but if it is expanding but moving slowly to the side, he will probably pass by it. Since optic flow relies only on relative motion, it remains the same when he is moving and the world remains still, and when he is standing still but everything he can see is moving past him. These properties have made the concept useful for robot designers writing visual navigation routines. It also appears to be used by certain insects, especially flying ones, where a large optic flow (indicating a quickly approaching obstacle) triggers muscles to move away.

Related

* Optical flow in computer vision.
* Motion perception

External links

* [http://www.centeye.com/pages/techres/opticflow.html Centeye]
* [http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/11/071115121131.htm optic flow: a step in the right direction]


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Нужна курсовая?

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Optic neuropathy — Classification and external resources ICD 10 H46 The optic nerve contains axons of nerve cells that emerge from the retina, leave the eye at the optic disc, and go to the visual cortex where input from the eye is processed into vision. There are… …   Wikipedia

  • Optical flow — The optic flow experienced by a rotating observer (in this case a fly). The direction and magnitude of optic flow at each location is represented by the direction and length of each arrow. Image taken from.[1] Optical flow or optic flow is the… …   Wikipedia

  • Posterior ischemic optic neuropathy — DiseaseDisorder infobox Name = Posterior ischemic optic neuropathy ICD10 = ICD9 = ICD9|377.41 Posterior Ischemic Optic Neuropathy (PION) is a medical condition characterized by damage to the retrobulbar portion of the optic nerve due to ischemia …   Wikipedia

  • Ischemic optic neuropathy — (ION) is the loss of structure and function of a portion of the optic nerve due to obstruction of blood flow to the nerve (i.e. ischemia). ION is typically classified as either anterior ischemic optic neuropathy or posterior ischemic optic… …   Wikipedia

  • Medial superior temporal area — The medial superior temporal (MST) area is a part of the cerebral cortex lying in the dorsal stream of the visual area of the primate brain. The MST receives most of its inputs from the medial temporal (MT) area, which is involved primarily in… …   Wikipedia

  • Mandyam Veerambudi Srinivasan — FRS is an Indian born Australian biologist who studies bees. A faculty member at the University of Queensland, he is a recipient of the Prime Minister s Prize for Science and a fellow of the Australian Academy of Science and the Royal Society… …   Wikipedia

  • Оптический поток — Эту статью следует викифицировать. Пожалуйста, оформите её согласно правилам оформления статей. Оптический поток  это изображение видимого движения объектов, поверхностей или краев сцены, получаемое в результате перемещения н …   Википедия

  • General Tau Theory — Origin A theory of perceptuomotor control based on the ecological invariant, tau. The theory was developed from work on J.J. Gibson s notion of ecological invariants in the visual flow field during a perception in action event, and subsequently… …   Wikipedia

  • Ant — For other uses, see Ant (disambiguation). Ants Temporal range: 130–0 Ma …   Wikipedia

  • Motion perception — The dorsal stream (green) and ventral stream (purple) are shown. They originate from a common source in visual cortex. The dorsal stream is responsible for detection of location and motion. Motion perception is the process of inferring the speed… …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
… Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”