Motion perception is the process of inferring the speed and direction of elements

in a scene based on visual, vestibular and proprioceptive inputs. Although this

process appears straightforward to most observers, it has proven to be a difficult
problem from a computational perspective, and extraordinarily difficult to explain
in terms of neural processing.

Motion perception is studied by many disciplines, including psychology (i.e. visual

perception), neurology, neurophysiology, engineering, and computer science.

First-order motion perception

Example of Beta movement, often confused with phi phenomenon, in which a succession
of still images gives the illusion of a moving ball.[3]

Two or more stimuli that are switched on and off in alternation can produce two
different motion percepts. The first, demonstrated in the figure to the right is
"Beta movement", often used in billboard displays, in which an object is perceived
as moving when, in fact, a series of stationary images is being presented. This is
also termed "apparent motion" and is the basis of movies and television. However,
at faster alternation rates, and if the distance between the stimuli is just right,
an illusory "object" the same colour as the background is seen moving between the
two stimuli and alternately occluding them. This is called the phi phenomenon and
is sometimes described as an example of "pure" motion detection uncontaminated, as
in Beta movement, by form cues.[3] This description is, however, somewhat
paradoxical as it is not possible to create such motion in the absence of figural
percepts.

The phi phenomenon has been referred to as "first-order" motion perception. Werner
E. Reichardt and Bernard Hassenstein have modelled it in terms of relatively simple
"motion sensors" in the visual system, that have evolved to detect a change in
luminance at one point on the retina and correlate it with a change in luminance at
a neighbouring point on the retina after a short delay. Sensors that are proposed
to work this way have been referred to as either Hassenstein-Reichardt detectors
after the scientists Bernhard Hassenstein and Werner Reichardt, who first modelled
them,[4] motion-energy sensors,[5] or Elaborated Reichardt Detectors.[6] These
sensors are described as detecting motion by spatio-temporal correlation and are
considered by some to be plausible models for how the visual system may detect
motion. (Although, again, the notion of a "pure motion" detector suffers from the
problem that there is no "pure motion" stimulus, i.e. a stimulus lacking perceived
figure/ground properties). There is still considerable debate regarding the
accuracy of the model and exact nature of this proposed process. It is not clear
how the model distinguishes between movements of the eyes and movements of objects
in the visual field, both of which produce changes in luminance on points on the
retina.