Studies of stereo vision guide research on how animals see and how computers might accomplish this human activity. Discusses a sequence of algorithms to first extract information from visual images and then to calculate the depths of objects in the three-dimensional world, concentrating on stereopsis (stereo vision). (JN)

Built-in data structures are the registers and memory words where binary values are stored; hard-wired algorithms are the fixed rules, embodied in electronic logic circuits, by which stored data are interpreted as instructions to be executed. Various topics related to these two basic elements of every computer program are discussed. (JN)