Moving observers, relative retinal motion and the detection of object movement

Motion of the image of an object across the retina (or a camera sensor) may be due to movement of the object, movement of the observation point or a combination of the two. Humans are able to routinely distinguish between these causes and correctly perceive whether an object of interest is in motion or scene-stationary. The important question is how this ubiquitous and difficult problem is solved. We have investigated whether the brain can resolve the ambiguity by comparing the retinal motion of the object of interest — the target — to that of scene objects.