Stereokinetic trefoil in VR
Measuring perceived depth of a rotating 2D shape
When a flat shape rotates on screen, the brain sometimes reconstructs it as a three-dimensional object, even though no depth cue was ever present. This is the Stereokinetic Effect (SKE): motion alone triggers a vivid sense of 3D form.
My work at UCLA's Perceptual Processing & Computational Lab examines why this happens and how much depth the brain infers, using a rotating trefoil knot whose perceived depth is theoretically constrained by a constant-curvature assumption: the idea that the visual system prefers whichever 3D interpretation keeps the curve's curvature as consistent as possible along its length.
Participants trace the rotating shape in VR, and the recovered depth is compared against that constant-curvature prediction to test whether the perceived shape stays fixed or shifts across repeated viewings.
Status: unpublished, ongoing.