Cite as:
Canessa A, Sabatini S P, Solari F, 2009, "Do eyes move as a tilt-pan like system? Physical plausibility of the coplanarity of the fixation planes" Perception 38 ECVP Abstract Supplement, page 170

Do eyes move as a tilt-pan like system? Physical plausibility of the coplanarity of the fixation planes

A Canessa, S P Sabatini, F Solari

Usually eye rotations have been decomposed into three sequential rotations about hierarchically nested axes (Helmholtz and Fick systems), but these description are strongly dependent on the order of these rotations. Even when quaternion algebra is adopted, Helmholtz or Fick angles are still commonly used to characterize the rotation vector components (Haslwanter, 1995 Vision Research 35 1727 - 1739). A new characterization of eye movements has been developed that is dependent on the coordinates of the fixation point only, independently of the rotation system adopted. Experimental evidence (such as Listing's Law and its binocular extension, L2) have been taken into account. Based on this new characterization, we performed a mathematical analysis to obtain optimal eye movements maximizing both motor efficiency and the perceptual advantages for stereo vision. The results revealed that the eyes should move both to maintain the coplanarity of the fixation planes (a property of a tilt-pan system) and to reduce the eccentricity of the rotation. Our approach confirms the experimental results found in the literature for large and small vergences, and proposes itself as a general model, forming a bridge between these two extremes (even for non-null version conditions).

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