Occlusion and overlapping

When one object overlaps and partially obscures another, we perceive it as being closer. While this observation does not provide us with more detailed information about the distances of the two objects, we can infer their relative spatial positions. Thus, occlusion and overlap create a perception of depth that corresponds to the extent of the occluded object. How the impression of spatial depth results from object overlap is explained quite simply for objects that are familiar to us: we know what they look like completely and try to complete them on that basis. However, depth perception also results in completely unknown patterns, and the explanation for this has yet to be found. How difficult it is to construct depth without this criterion you can try out at Figure 29 (Occlusion and overlap). In the lower part of the picture, there is a clearly comprehensible occlusion and overlapping, making it easy for us to perceive the spatial arrangement of the elements. But if you cover this lower half of the picture, the impression fades because it suddenly becomes difficult to determine which objects in the free section lie in front of or behind each other.

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Main Image creation, Depth and Size

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