Definition
Motion parallax is a monocular depth cue produced by a difference in apparent direction and speed of displacement of the objects located at different distances from an observer, as that observer moves through the environment.
Introduction
Unlike binocular disparity, motion parallax is a monocular depth cue that does not require integrating information from two retinas. However, it is conceptually similar to binocular disparity in that the visual system must still detect the differences between two retinal images obtained successively rather than simultaneously (Rogers and Graham 1982). Motion parallax requires side-to-side (or translational) movement of the body or the head of an observer as depth information cannot be obtained from rotational movement alone. It has comparable precision to binocular disparity (Rogers and Graham 1982), and its use for depth perception is well documented for both humans and nonhuman animals.
Use of Motion Parallax for Depth Perception in...
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Lazareva, O. (2017). Motion Parallax. In: Shackelford, T., Weekes-Shackelford, V. (eds) Encyclopedia of Evolutionary Psychological Science. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-16999-6_2761-1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-16999-6_2761-1
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