Spatiotemporal Energy Models for the Perception of Motion
Edward H. Adelson and James R. Bergan
Published in
Journal of the Optical Society of America A, vol. 2, no. 2, pp. 284-299 (1985).
A motion sequence may be represented as a single pattern in x- y - t space; a velocity of motion corresponds to a
three-dimensional orientation in this space. Motion information can be extracted by a system that responds to the
oriented spatiotemporal energy. We discuss a class of models for human motion mechanisms in which the first stage
consists of linear filters that are oriented in space-time and tuned in spatial frequency. The outputs of quadrature
pairs of such filters are squared and summed to give a measure of motion energy. These responses are then fed into an
opponent stage. Energy models can be built from elements that are consistent with known physiology and psychophysics,
and they permit a qualitative understanding of a variety of motion phenomena.