We humans may not always see eye to eye on politics, religion, sports and other matters of debate. But at least we can agree on the location and size of objects in our physical surroundings. Or can we?
作为人类，我们可能很难在政治、宗教、体育和其他有争议的事情上一直保持统一意见，但至少我们可以在物理环境中在物体的位置和大小问题上达成一致。或者我们可以吗?
Not according to new UC Berkeley research, recently published in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences journal, that shows that our ability to pinpoint the exact location and size of things varies from one person to the next, and even within our own individual field of vision.
最近《皇家学会学报B：生物科学杂志》（Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences journal）发表了加州大学伯克利分校（UC Berkeley）的一项新研究，事实并非如此。该研究表明，我们对物体的精确位置和大小的判断能力因人而异，甚至在我们自己的视野范围内也是如此。
“We assume our perception is a perfect reflection of the physical world around us, but this study shows that each of us has a unique visual fingerprint,” said study lead author Zixuan Wang, a UC Berkeley doctoral student in psychology.
“我们假设我们的感知是我们周围物质世界的完美反映，但这项研究表明，我们每个人都有独特的视觉指纹（visual fingerprint），”该研究的首席作者、加州大学伯克利分校心理学博士生Zixuan Wang说道。
The discovery by Wang and fellow researchers in UC Berkeley’s Whitney Laboratory for Perception and Action has ramifications for the practices of medicine, technology, driving and sports, among other fields where accurate visual localization is critical.
Wang和他在加州大学伯克利分校惠特尼感知与行动实验室（Whitney Laboratory for Perception and Action）的同事们的这一发现对医学、科技、驾驶和运动等领域的实践都有影响，在这些领域中，精确的视觉定位至关重要。
For example, a driver who makes even a small miscalculation about the location of a pedestrian crossing the street can cause a catastrophe. Meanwhile, in sports, an error of visual judgment can lead to controversy.
例如，一个司机对过街行人的位置即使有一个小小的错误估计，也可能导致一场灾难。与此同时，在体育比赛中，一个错误的视觉判断可能会导致争议。
Take, for example, the 2004 U.S. Open quarterfinals, in which tennis icon Serena Williams lost to Jennifer Capriati after a series of questionable line calls. An umpire incorrectly overruled a line judge who called a backhand hit by Williams as in, resulting in an apology to Williams by the U.S. Tennis Association.
以2004年美国网球公开赛四分之一决赛为例，网球偶像Serena Williams在一系列有问题的判罚后输给了Jennifer Capriati。一名裁判错误地驳回了边线裁判对Williams反手击球的判决，导致美国网球协会向Williams道歉。
“Line judges need to rule on whether the ball is outside or inside the parameters. Even an error as small as half a degree of visual angle, equal to a sub-millimeter shift on the judge’s retina, may influence the result of the whole match,” said Wang, a die-hard tennis fan.
“边线裁判需要判定球是在参数范围外还是在参数范围内。即使是半个角度的微小误差，相当于法官视网膜上亚毫米的位移，也可能影响整个比赛的结果。”
Researchers sought to understand if different people see objects in their surroundings exactly the same way. For example, when glancing at a coffee cup on a table, can two people agree on its exact position and whether its handle is big enough to grip? The result of a series of experiments suggest not, though there’s an upside.
研究人员试图弄清楚不同的人观察周围物体的方式是否完全相同。例如，当看一眼桌上的咖啡杯时，两个人能否就它的确切位置以及它的把手是否大到足以握持达成一致？一系列实验的结果表明并非如此，不过也有好的一面。
“We may reach for a coffee mug thousands of times in our life, and through practice we reach our target,” Wang said. “That’s the behavioral aspect of how we train ourselves to coordinate how we act in relation to what we see.”
Wang说:“在我们的生活中，我们可能会拿起咖啡杯几千次，通过练习去达成目标。这是一种行为方式，即我们如何训练自己，使自己的行为与所看之物协调。”
How they conducted the study
他们是如何进行这项研究的
In the first task to test visual localization, study participants pinpointed on a computer screen the location of a circular target. In another experiment looking at variations of acuity within each person’s field of vision, participants viewed two lines set a minimal distance apart and determined whether one line was located clockwise or counterclockwise to the other line.
在第一个测试视觉定位的实验中，研究参与者在电脑屏幕上精确定位一个圆形目标的位置。在另一项观察每个人视野内敏锐度变化的实验中，参与者看两条紧紧挨着的线，并确定一条线是顺时针方向还是逆时针方向指向另一条线。
And in an experiment measuring perception of size, participants viewed a series of arcs of varying lengths and were asked to estimate their lengths. Surprisingly, people perceived the exact same arcs to be bigger at some locations in the visual field and smaller at other locations.
在一项测量大小感知的实验中，参与者看到了一系列不同长度的弧线，并被要求估计它们的长度。令人惊讶的是，人们感觉同样的弧线在视野的某些地方更大，而在其他地方更小。
Overall, the results showed remarkable variations in visual performance among the group and even within each individual’s field of vision. The data were mapped to show each study participant’s unique visual fingerprint of perceptual distortion.
总的来说，研究结果显示，在实验小组成员之间，甚至在每个人的视野范围内，视觉表现都存在显著差异。数据被绘制成地图，以显示每个研究参与者存在独特的视觉指纹的感知失真。
“Though our study might suggest that the source of our visual deficiencies can originate from our brain, further investigations are needed to uncover the neural basis,” said Wang.
Wang说:“尽管我们的研究表明，可能我们视觉缺陷的根源来自于我们的大脑，但需要进一步的研究来发现神经基础。”
“What’s also important,” she added, “is how we adapt to them and compensate for our errors.”
“同样重要的是，”她补充道，“我们应该如何适应错误，如何弥补错误。”
