diff --git a/docs/api/en/core/Object3D.html b/docs/api/en/core/Object3D.html
index 2bef4dfa941a2..9f31fce8eb3e8 100644
--- a/docs/api/en/core/Object3D.html
+++ b/docs/api/en/core/Object3D.html
@@ -61,7 +61,8 @@ <h3>[property:Integer id]</h3>
 		<h3>[property:Layers layers]</h3>
 		<p>
 		The layer membership of the object. The object is only visible if it has at least one
-		layer in common with the [page:Camera] in use.
+		layer in common with the [page:Camera] in use. This property can also be used to filter out
+		unwanted objects in ray-intersection tests when using [page:Raycaster].
 		</p>
 
 		<h3>[property:Matrix4 matrix]</h3>
diff --git a/docs/api/en/core/Raycaster.html b/docs/api/en/core/Raycaster.html
index 22559201e0474..d34df46f94160 100644
--- a/docs/api/en/core/Raycaster.html
+++ b/docs/api/en/core/Raycaster.html
@@ -107,6 +107,18 @@ <h3>[property:Camera camera]</h3>
 		Defaults to null.
 		</p>
 
+		<h3>[property:Layers layers]</h3>
+		<p>
+		Used by [name] to selectively ignore 3D objects when performing intersection tests. The following code example ensures that
+		only 3D objects on layer *1* will be honored by the instance of [name].
+
+		<code>
+		raycaster.layers.set( 1 );
+		object.layers.enable( 1 );
+		</code>
+
+		</p>
+
 		<h3>[property:Object params]</h3>
 		<p>
 		An object with the following properties:
diff --git a/docs/api/zh/core/Object3D.html b/docs/api/zh/core/Object3D.html
index f74b814deb956..194408c8a945e 100644
--- a/docs/api/zh/core/Object3D.html
+++ b/docs/api/zh/core/Object3D.html
@@ -59,7 +59,8 @@ <h3>[property:Integer id]</h3>
 	<h3>[property:Layers layers]</h3>
 	<p>
 		物体的层级关系。
-		物体只有和一个正在使用的[page:Camera]至少在同一个层时才可见。
+		物体只有和一个正在使用的[page:Camera]至少在同一个层时才可见。This property can also be used to filter out
+		unwanted objects in ray-intersection tests when using [page:Raycaster].
 	</p>
 
 	<h3>[property:Matrix4 matrix]</h3>
@@ -199,7 +200,7 @@ <h3>[method:null applyMatrix4]( [param:Matrix4 matrix] )</h3>
 	<h3>[method:Object3D applyQuaternion]( [param:Quaternion quaternion] )</h3>
 	<p>对当前物体应用由四元数所表示的变换。</p>
 
-	
+
 	<h3>[method:this attach]( [param:Object3D object] )</h3>
 	<p>将*object*作为子级来添加到该对象中，同时保持该object的世界变换。</p>
 
diff --git a/docs/api/zh/core/Raycaster.html b/docs/api/zh/core/Raycaster.html
index 1c733f9ff7dfc..941745623ecf4 100644
--- a/docs/api/zh/core/Raycaster.html
+++ b/docs/api/zh/core/Raycaster.html
@@ -105,6 +105,18 @@ <h3>[property:Camera camera]</h3>
 		Defaults to null.
 		</p>
 
+		<h3>[property:Layers layers]</h3>
+		<p>
+		Used by [name] to selectively ignore 3D objects when performing intersection tests. The following code example ensures that
+		only 3D objects on layer *1* will be honored by the instance of [name].
+
+		<code>
+		raycaster.layers.set( 1 );
+		object.layers.enable( 1 );
+		</code>
+
+		</p>
+
 		<h3>[property:Object params]</h3>
 		<p>
 			具有以下属性的对象：<code>
diff --git a/src/core/Raycaster.d.ts b/src/core/Raycaster.d.ts
index 1639e178c80cd..df1e812a796b8 100644
--- a/src/core/Raycaster.d.ts
+++ b/src/core/Raycaster.d.ts
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@ import { Object3D } from './Object3D';
 import { Vector2 } from './../math/Vector2';
 import { Ray } from './../math/Ray';
 import { Camera } from './../cameras/Camera';
+import { Layers } from './Layers';
 
 export interface Intersection {
 	distance: number;
@@ -62,6 +63,11 @@ export class Raycaster {
 	 */
 	camera: Camera;
 
+	/**
+	 * Used by Raycaster to selectively ignore 3D objects when performing intersection tests.
+	 */
+	layers: Layers;
+
 	params: RaycasterParameters;
 
 	/**
diff --git a/src/core/Raycaster.js b/src/core/Raycaster.js
index f04d516436562..2f171546a5932 100644
--- a/src/core/Raycaster.js
+++ b/src/core/Raycaster.js
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 import { Ray } from '../math/Ray.js';
+import { Layers } from './Layers.js';
 
 /**
  * @author mrdoob / http://mrdoob.com/
@@ -14,6 +15,7 @@ function Raycaster( origin, direction, near, far ) {
 	this.near = near || 0;
 	this.far = far || Infinity;
 	this.camera = null;
+	this.layers = new Layers();
 
 	this.params = {
 		Mesh: {},
@@ -44,9 +46,11 @@ function ascSort( a, b ) {
 
 function intersectObject( object, raycaster, intersects, recursive ) {
 
-	if ( object.visible === false ) return;
+	if ( object.layers.test( raycaster.layers ) ) {
 
-	object.raycast( raycaster, intersects );
+		object.raycast( raycaster, intersects );
+
+	}
 
 	if ( recursive === true ) {