Web-page to accompany
"Depth and Motion Perceptions Produced by Motion Parallax"
Teaching of Psychology, (2006), 33, 199–202.

(A. P. Mapp, H. Mizushina, H. Mitsudo, H. Ono, & N. J. Wade)


To view the demonstrations you must have QuickTime installed on your computer. To download a free copy click on the QuickTime link below.

To download the demonstrations Right Click (PC Users) or hold down the Option key on your keyboard and Click (Mac Users) on the links below. (The apparent triangular surface demonstration is not included, because the density of the random dots is too low to simulate a surface that is discriminable from our sine wave surface.) Figures 1 and 2 that appear in the paper (and Figure 3 that appears in the "Definition of Motion Parallax Magnitude" link) are made available for instructors who want to use them in a lecture. The last two links in the "Illustrations and Definitions" column below are concerned with the quantitative specification of parallax magnitude and the size of head movement to be used in the demonstrations.


Illustrations and Definitions Demonstrations
Figure 1 Two Vertical Bars
Figure 2 Square Wave
Definition of Motion Parallax Magnitude Sine Wave*
Parallax Magnitude for the Demonstrations Sawtooth*

*Due to monitor resolution constraints some observers may not see smooth surfaces and/or smooth transitions between surfaces in the sine wave and sawtooth demonstrations. Also, in the sawtooth demonstration only two surfaces are simulated, not three as depicted in Figure 2.

Click here for a video that can be used, in a classroom situation, to explain motion parallax.