  In the primate primary visual area (V1), the ocular dominance pattern
consists of alternating monocular stripes. Stripe orientation follows
systematic trends preserved across several species. I propose that these trends
result from minimizing the length of intra-cortical wiring needed to recombine
information from the two eyes in order to achieve the perception of depth. I
argue that the stripe orientation at any point of V1 should follow the
direction of binocular disparity in the corresponding point of the visual
field. The optimal pattern of stripes determined from this argument agrees with
the ocular dominance pattern of macaque and Cebus monkeys. This theory predicts
that for any point in the visual field the limits of depth perception are
greatest in the direction along the ocular dominance stripes at that point.
