11R64. Models of Oculomotor Control. - GK Hung (Rutgers Univ, Piscataway NJ). World Sci Publ, Singapore. 2001. 127 pp. ISBN 981-02-4568-8. $32.00.
Reviewed by RL Huston (Dept of Mech, Indust, and Nucl Eng, Univ of Cincinnati, PO Box 210072, Cincinnati OH 45221-0072).
This is a brief monograph intended to bridge a knowledge and communications gap between biomedical engineers and vision scientists for oculomotor control (eye/vision control). In writing the book, the author has two stated objectives: 1) To provide biomedical engineers with a means for applying engineering control principles to oculomotor systems and 2) to provide vision scientists with an understanding of control theory and how it can model physiological phenomena. Among expected readers are bioengineers, biophysicists, mathematicians, neurologists, ophthalmologists, optometrists, and psychologists.
The book has three main sections spanning approximately 125 pages. The first is an introduction describing eye anatomy, measurement terms, measurement techniques, and control concepts. The second section, devoted to static analysis techniques, discusses accommodation systems, vergence systems, analysis methods, and proximal models. The third section, dynamic analysis techniques, considers root locus analysis, dual-mode dynamic characteristics, myopia models, error development models, and interactive dynamic models. The book concludes with a bibliography having 175 entries.
The concepts are illustrated with figures throughout as well as with numerous equations.
Although the book intends to provide an understanding of concepts and phenomena across disciplines, it nevertheless assumes considerable sophistication and prior knowledge of its readers. The book reads more like a review article than a tutorial. The subjects discussed in any given section are carefully cited and referred to the extensive bibliography.
This reviewer believes that the utility of Models of Oculomotor Control is most likely to be that of a reference for researchers and scholars who are planning to work in human vision systems.
