Discover the Many Worlds of Perspective

The Perspective Research Centre (PRC) explores visual, optical and technical perspective across art, science and technology.

Perspective is far more than a drawing method. It shapes how we see, represent, measure, model, image and understand spatial reality—from art, architecture and geometry to photography, cinema, scientific imaging, computer graphics, virtual reality, artificial intelligence and robotics.

Because perspective has never been established as a distinct discipline, much of its scale, diversity and influence remains fragmented or undocumented. Its terminology is also inconsistent, often giving one concept several names—or using the same name for different and even opposing ideas.

The framework presented here is designed to organise and simplify this inherently complex field, resolve common errors and misconceptions, and reflect its natural, visual, optical, geometrical and technical processes as accurately as possible.

The PRC’s research, publications and collections encompass:

Approximately 1,200 types and forms of perspective · 5,000 library volumes · 15,000 bibliography titles · More than 4,000 dictionary terms

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Start Here

Choose a starting point according to your interests and level of knowledge.

• New to Perspective? Begin with Introduction to Perspective.
• Learn or Teach Perspective. Go to Learn, access educational resources.
• Discover Types and Forms. Browse the Explore section.
• Research the Subject. Open Research, view resources, people and archives.
• Apply Perspective Professionally. Visit Professional Practice.
• Finding Perspective Confusing? Read Common Errors and Misconceptions.
• Get Specialist Advice. Contact the PRC for consultation and guidance.

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What is Perspective?

Perspective concerns the relationships between space, vision, representation and measurement.

It encompasses the natural conditions of seeing; the optical behaviour of light, eyes and instruments; and the artificial systems used to record, construct and represent space in drawings, photographs, films, screens, simulations and digital environments.

Linear perspective is only one part of this much larger field.

Our Mission

The Perspective Research Centre collects, organises, classifies and develops knowledge of perspective across the arts, sciences and technologies. It brings together historical and contemporary theories, methods, instruments, applications and visual systems from Western and non-Western traditions.

Our long-term aim is to help establish perspective science as a unified interdisciplinary field concerned with how spatial reality is seen, imaged, represented, transformed, measured and understood. To support this aim, we are developing Perspective Category Theory: a coherent framework for organising the many types, forms, processes and applications of perspective.

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Library, Bibliography and Archives 

The Library of Perspective contains approximately 5,000 physical volumes, thousands of digital publications and an extensive image archive.

The PRC also provides access to the Bibliography of Perspective, comprising around 15,000 titles and developed from the work of Luigi Vagnetti and Kim Veltman. It preserves Professor Kim Veltman’s archive of writings on perspective, visual knowledge, Leonardo da Vinci, media theory and the history of science.

Perspective Today

Perspective remains fundamental to photography, cinema, scientific imaging, computer graphics, virtual and augmented reality, robotics, medical visualisation, autonomous navigation, photogrammetry, cartography, astronomy, microscopy, game design and artificial intelligence.

As physical and digital images, spatial data, simulations and immersive environments become increasingly central to contemporary life, the study of perspective becomes more relevant, not less.

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The Art and Science of Perspective

The Art and Science of Perspective is a major multi-volume series examining visual and optical perspective across art, science and technology. It examines the relationships between vision, space, imaging and representation, laying the foundations for a new interdisciplinary understanding of the field.

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Volume 1

NEW SECOND EDITION

The Past, Present and Future of Visual and Optical Perspective

A new understanding of what perspective is, how it operates and why it matters across the visual arts, sciences and technologies.

This wide-ranging volume traces, re-examines and extends the field of perspective from antiquity to the digital age. It explores natural and artificial perspective across art, optics, geometry, architecture, photography, cinema, computer graphics, virtual reality and artificial intelligence, revealing how perspective shapes vision, spatial understanding, image-making and the representation of reality.

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Volume 2

NEW SECOND EDITION

Dictionary of Perspective

The first comprehensive dictionary and taxonomy of visual, optical and technical perspective.

Containing more than 4,000 terms, approximately 1,200 identified types and forms, and over 350,000 words, the Dictionary brings together terminology, theories, methods, instruments, classifications, visual phenomena and applications from across art, science and technology.

More than a conventional dictionary, it functions as an encyclopaedic reference, taxonomy and conceptual map of the field. It is designed for artists, architects, designers, photographers, filmmakers, educators, researchers, students, CGI specialists and others working with vision, imaging and spatial representation.

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Volume 3

FORTHCOMING FIRST EDITION

Natural and Visual Perspective

A new account of how spatial reality gives rise to natural appearance—and how natural appearance becomes human visual experience.

Natural and Visual Perspective provides a detailed examination of Natural Perspective and Visual Perspective Type 2: the optical, geometrical, retinal and perceptual processes through which spatial reality is seen and experienced.

Through original theoretical diagrams and Perspective Category Theory, the book examines monocular and binocular vision, retinal image formation, stereopsis, natural scaling, visual distortion, the Sphere of Vision, and optical and geometrical vanishing structures.

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