Trigger Happy
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In the real world, we perceive depth because we have
two eyes: each receives a slightly different perspective
on the scene and our brain blends them into a
stereoscopic image. But a flat representation such as
that in paintings or videogames can still offer a lot of
information about depth, partly through scientific
perspective, and partly through other “indirect” means,
taking advantage of the fact that in binocular vision at
distances of more than about fifty feet, we do not
perceive depth directly anyway. The fact that we
routinely rely on cues other than the direct perception
of depth is easy to demonstrate if you close one eye and
look at people a hundred yards away. You don’t
immediately think they are midgets.
Videogames use many of the same tricks that
painters have used over the centuries. One hoary old
device much used in the Renaissance was a
checkerboard-patterned floor of alternating light and
dark squares receding “into” the painting’s background.
This is exactly the same trompe-l’oeil that crops up to
enhance the sense of movement in games like WipEout
2097.
As well as scientific perspective, there are artistic
traditions of overlapping contours, aerial perspective,
dispensation of light and shade and interpretation of
