Eye Vergence is Susceptible to the Hollow-Face Illusion

When an observer looks at a hollow mask of a face, a normal convex face is often perceived [the hollow-face illusion—Gregory 1973, in Illusion in Nature and Art (London: Duckworth) pp 49–96]. We show that in exploring an illusory face, the eyes converge at the illusory and not at the real distances of fixated targets like the tip of the nose. The ‘vergence error’ appears even though the resulting disparities of the two retinal images of the target provide feedback that would allow an immediate correction. It is presumably the success of recognising a familiar object (a face) which overrides the correction of convergence. This suggests that the brain strives for a congruency of eye vergence and distance perception.