Visual space

Visual space is the perceptual space housing the visual world being experienced by an aware observer; it is the subjective counterpart of the space of physical objects before an observer's eyes.

Spaces of objects and of visual percepts

Space of physical objects

In object space the location and shape of physical targets can be accurately described with the tools of geometry. For practical purposes it is Euclidean. It is three-dimensional and various co-ordinate systems like the Cartesian x,y,z (with a defined origin in relation to an observer's head or eyes), or bipolar with angles of elevation, azimuth and binocular parallax (based on the separation of the two eyes) are interchangeable. No elaborate mathematics are needed.

Space of visual percepts

Percepts, the counterparts in the aware observer's conscious experience of objects in physical space, constitute an ordered ensemble or, as Ernst Cassirer explained, the perceptual world has a structure and is not an aggregate of scattered sensations. This visual space can be accessed by introspection, by interrogation, or by suitable experimental procedures which allow relative location as well as some structural properties to be assessed, even quantitatively.