The eighth lecture was primarily focused on perception and how we interpret the things around us using visual cues. There are many aspects of perceptual organization, but I wanted to explain one in more detail. Aerial perspective is defined as objects at distances that are blurred, less detailed, and lighter in color than when they are nearby. The effect is due to the atmosphere which causes far away objects to appear “hazy” and unclear to the human eye. Aerial perspective is a monocular cue that is used for depth perception. Most people probably utilize aerial perspective every day when driving or walking around without even knowing it.
Aerial perspective is most easily noticed by observing natural landforms like mountains. During the winter months, I go on many ski trips to various places such as Stowe, Vermont, with either friends or family and the landscape there is one of the best for observing aerial perspective. As seen in the pictures above, there are many hills, trees, and objects littered throughout the landscape that have distinct shapes and colors. The colors (brown, green) and the shapes of the ground and the trees are easily visible in the foreground of the picture. Aerial perspective is more visible in these pictures the farther out you look. The mountain ranges that are much farther out in the pictures are covered by the “haze” of the atmosphere and make colors and shapes far less distinguishable. The once browns and greens of the closer objects are non-recognizable and appear as a uniform bluish mountain range in the distance.
Aerial perspective provides us with monocular cues that significantly help with depth perception. Without these cues, many things such as hitting the slopes and other activities would be hard to gauge and interpret.
Definition of Aerial Perspective found at: https://www.alleydog.com/glossary/definition.php?term=Aerial+Perspective