The motion of two dots corresponding to the two endpoints of an oscillating rigid pendulum produces the perception of an elastic rod, not a rigid one. The possibility that structural information about a rigid object whose motion is simulated plays an important role in the perceptual restoration of the rigidity is examined. Two experiments are reported in which the motion of the endpoints of rigid objects (two endpoints for a rod, four for a sheet, and eight for a board) was displayed. Rigid structure was restored whenever structural information could be used to activate a knowledge data-base on the properties of the objects.
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