Linton Stereo Illusion: Response on Johnston (1991)

In (Linton, 2024) I present a new illusion (the ‘Linton Stereo Illusion’) that challenges our understanding of stereo vision. A vision scientist has shared their own analysis of the ‘Linton Stereo Illusion’ (titled: ‘There is no challenge to our understanding of stereo vision: Response to Linton and Kriegeskorte (ECVP 2024 and ArXiv:2408.00770)’) claiming that the ‘Linton Stereo Illusion’ is fully explained by Johnston (1991). I regard Johnston (1991) as one of the most important stereo vision papers in our young (< 200-year-old) field, and so this challenge requires a response. In this paper I explain why Johnston (1991) cannot explain the ‘Linton Stereo Illusion’. Indeed, Johnston (1991) makes predictions that are the exact opposite of those observed in the ‘Linton Stereo Illusion’. I also highlight a key concern with Johnston (1991)’s account that has so far been overlooked. Johnston (1991)’s account predicts that vergence eye movements will cause massive stereo distortions, leading to a world of unstable stereo perception. But this simply does not reflect our visual experience.