Binocular Vision and Stereopsis

Animals such as rabbits and horses have two eyes, one on each side of their heads (binocular vision) that provide them a panoramic view and awareness of the world all around them. For instance, rabbits are able to see potential predators approaching from behind because of the lateral position of their eyes. Humans and a number of other species have forward-facing eyes that do not allow for a view behind the head. What evolutionary advantage could make up for the sacrifice in field of view? One enormous advantage is that the two forward-facing eyes receive images of the same portion of the visual world, but the left and right eye images differ because the eyes view from slightly different positions. These image differences on the ...