Influence of scene statistics on colour constancy

The light reflected from an object depends not only on the surface properties of this object but also on the illuminant. The same is true for the excitations of the photoreceptors, which serve as the basis for the perceived colour. However, our visual system has the ability to perceive constant surface colours despite changes in illumination. The average chromaticity of the retinal image of a scene depends on the illumination, and thus might be used by the visual system to estimate the illumination and to modulate the correction that subserves colour constancy. But this measure is not sufficient: a reddish scene under white light can produce the same mean stimulation as a neutral scene in red light. Higher order scene statistics-for example, the correlation between redness and luminance within the image-allow these cases to be distinguished. Here we report that the human visual system does exploit such a statistic when estimating the illuminant, and gives it a weight that is statistically appropriate for the natural environment.     

Perception of shape from shading

The human visual system can rapidly and accurately derive the three-dimensional orientation of surfaces by using variations in image intensity alone. This ability to perceive shape from shading is one of the most important yet poorly understood aspects of human vision. Here we present several findings which may help reveal computational mechanisms underlying this ability. First, we find that perception of shape from shading is a global operation which assumes that there is only one light source illuminating the entire visual image. This implies that if two identical objects are viewed simultaneously and illuminated from different angles, then we would be able to perceive three-dimensional shape accurately in only one of them at a time. Second, three-dimensional shapes that are defined exclusively by shading can provide tokens for the perception of apparent motion, suggesting that the motion mechanism is remarkably versatile in the kinds of inputs it can use. Lastly, the occluding edges which delineate an object from its background can also powerfully influence the perception of three-dimensional shape from shading.     

Parallel processing of motion and colour information

When the two eyes are confronted with sufficiently different versions of the visual environment, one or the other eye dominates perception in alternation. A similar situation may be created in the laboratory by presenting images to the left and right eyes which differ in orientation or colour. Although perception is dominated by one eye during rivalry, there are a number of instances in which visual processes nevertheless continue to integrate information from the suppressed eye. For example the interocular transfer of the motion after-effect is undiminished when induced during binocular rivalry. Thus motion information processing may occur in parallel with the rivalry process. Here we describe a novel example in which the visual system simultaneously exhibits binocular rivalry and vision that integrates signals from both eyes. This apparent contradiction is resolved by postulating parallel visual processes devoted to the analyses of colour and motion information. Counterphased gratings are viewed dichoptically such that for one eye the grating is composed of alternating yellow and black stripes (luminance) while for the other it is composed of alternating red and green stripes (chrominance). When the gratings are fused, a moving grating is perceived. A consistent direction of motion can only be achieved if left and right monocular signals are integrated by the nervous system. Yet the apparent colour of the binocular percept alternates between red-green and yellow-black. These observations demonstrate the segregation of processing by the early motion system from that affording the perception of colour. Although, in this stimulus, colour information in itself can play no part in the cyclopean perception of motion direction, colour is carried along perceptually (filled in) by the moving pattern which is integrated from both eyes.     

Image segmentation and lightness perception

The perception of surface albedo (lightness) is one of the most basic aspects of visual awareness. It is well known that the apparent lightness of a target depends on the context in which it is embedded, but there is extensive debate about the computations and representations underlying perceived lightness. One view asserts that the visual system explicitly separates surface reflectance from the prevailing illumination and atmospheric conditions in which it is embedded, generating layered image representations. Some recent theory has challenged this view and asserted that the human visual system derives surface lightness without explicitly segmenting images into multiple layers. Here we present new lightness illusions--the largest reported to date--that unequivocally demonstrate the effect that layered image representations can have in lightness perception. We show that the computations that underlie the decomposition of luminance into multiple layers under conditions of transparency can induce dramatic lightness illusions, causing identical texture patches to appear either black or white. These results indicate that mechanisms involved in decomposing images into layered representations can play a decisive role in the perception of surface lightness.     

Apparent surface curvature affects lightness perception

The human visual system has the remarkable capacity to perceive accurately the lightness, or relative reflectance, of surfaces, even though much of the variation in image luminance may be caused by other scene attributes, such as shape and illumination. Most physiological, and computational models of lightness perception invoke early sensory mechanisms that act independently of, or before, the estimation of other scene attributes. In contrast to the modularity of lightness perception assumed in these models are experiments that show that supposedly 'higher-order' percepts of planar surface attributes, such as orientation, depth and transparency, can influence perceived lightness. Here we show that perceived surface curvature can also affect perceived lightness. The results of the earlier experiments indicate that perceiving luminance edges as changes in surface attributes other than reflectance can influence lightness. These results suggest that the interpretation of smooth variations in luminance can also affect lightness percepts.     

Vertical disparities and perception of three-dimensional shape

The information about depth and three-dimensional shape available from the horizontal component of the stereo disparity field requires interpretation in conjunction with information about egocentric viewing distance (D). A novel computational approach for estimating D was proposed by Mayhew and Longuet-Higgins, who demonstrated that the horizontal gradient of vertical disparities uniquely specifies the viewing distance. We have now used random dot stereograms in a shape judgement task to show that changes in vertical disparities have no effect on perceived three-dimensional shape. Changes in ocular convergence do alter perceived shape, suggesting substantial changes in the subjects' scaling of horizontal disparities. We conclude that vertical disparities are not used to scale disparities for viewing distance, and that extraretinal signals must be considered when analysing human three-dimensional shape perception.     

整体拓扑性质的视知觉与计算

提出了一个早期视觉的可能的计算模型，把几何特征分为局部特征与全局特征，认为早期视觉中感知局部几何性质和全局拓扑性质先天运动感知，先于形状感知。模型本质上虽然仍然是读物上，但已不是的传统的ｖｏｎ Ｎｅｕｍａｎｎ的顺序计算，而是非ｖｏｎ Ｎｅｕｍａｎｎ的平行计算，它为计算理论和拓扑性质检测问题之间的矛盾提供了一个可能的解决方法。     

Colour-contingent after-effects are really wavelength-contingent

McCollough reported that following adaptation to (say) a red and black pattern of vertical stripes, alternating every few seconds with a green and black pattern of horizontal stripes, an orientation-contingent colour after-effect is observed when black and white gratings are viewed. Vertical gratings are tinged with green and horizontal gratings with pink. We have exploited colour constancy, the tendency for objects to appear constant in hue despite large changes in the spectral composition of the illuminant, to examine whether the colours observed on the McCollough effect test gratings are determined by the wavelength composition of the adaptation patterns or by their perceived colour. The key to this approach can be illustrated by Edwin Land's elegant demonstrations of colour constancy using 'Mondrian' displays. By embedding the adapting grating that is used to induce the McCollough effect within a Mondrian we show that the effect depends upon the wavelength of light coming from the grating, rather than the perceived colour.     

Does the brain know the physics of specular reflection?

Images of artificial and natural scenes typically contain many highlights generated by mirror-like reflection from glossy surfaces. Until recently, computational models of visual processes have tended to regard highlights as obscuring the structure of the underlying scene. The truth is that, on the contrary, highlights are rich in local geometric information. Here we report that the three-dimensional appearance of a highlight on a computer-simulated stereoscopic curved surface affects observers' judgment of surface gloss. We also show that the 3-D appearance of a highlight affects the perception of surface curvature--that is, it can force an ambiguous convex-concave figure to change state. We thus conclude that human visual analysis seems to employ a physical model of the interaction of light with curved surfaces, a model firmly based on ray optics and differential geometry.     

Self-motion and the perception of stationary objects

One of the ways that we perceive shape is through seeing motion. Visual motion may be actively generated (for example, in locomotion), or passively observed. In the study of the perception of three-dimensional structure from motion, the non-moving, passive observer in an environment of moving rigid objects has been used as a substitute for an active observer moving in an environment of stationary objects; this 'rigidity hypothesis' has played a central role in computational and experimental studies of structure from motion. Here we show that this is not an adequate substitution because active and passive observers can perceive three-dimensional structure differently, despite experiencing the same visual stimulus: active observers' perception of three-dimensional structure depends on extraretinal information about their own movements. The visual system thus treats objects that are stationary (in an allocentric, earth-fixed reference frame) differently from objects that are merely rigid. These results show that action makes an important contribution to depth perception, and argue for a revision of the rigidity hypothesis to incorporate the special case of stationary objects.     

Three-Dimensional Measurement and Reconstruction of Fabric Drape Shape

This paper introduces a new method of measuring the three-dimensional drape shape of fabrics with structural light. First, we apply parallel annular structural light to form light and shade alternating contour stripes on the surface of fabrics. We then collect the images of contour stripes using Charge Coupled Device （CCD）. Subsequently, we process the images to identify the contour stripes and edges of fabrics, and obtain the fabric contour lines of curved surfaces. Finally, we apply three-dimensional curved surface modeling method based on a network of polar coordinates, and reconstruct the three-dimensional drape shape of fabrics. Experiments show that our method is effective in testing and reconstructing three-dimensional drape shape of fabrics.     

Visual control of action but not perception requires analytical processing of object shape

The visual perception of object shape depends on 'holistic' processing in which a given dimension cannot be perceptually isolated from the other dimensions of the object. The visual control of action (such as grasping an object), however, which is mediated by cortical areas that are largely independent of those mediating conscious perception, must take into account only the most action-relevant dimension of an object without being misled by other non-relevant object features. Here we report the results of two experiments showing that vision for perception and vision for action deal with objects in a fundamentally different manner. We tested participants' ability to make perceptual judgements of the width of different rectangular objects or to grasp them across their width, while in both cases ignoring length. Participants could not ignore length when making perceptual judgements of width but they could completely ignore length when grasping the same objects. These results suggest that in situations in which the elementary dimensions of an object's shape are perceived in a holistic manner, the same dimensions are treated analytically when a visually guided action is directed at that same object.     

Long-range colour-generating interactions across the retina

The existence of colour-generating interactions across the corpus callosum has recently been suggested from observations with a 'split-brain' patient, thus indicating long-range colour computations at the cortical level. Observations on induced colours described here suggest long-range colour computations at the retinal level. If a white surface surrounded by a particular colour is fixated for some time, the resulting after-image has two colours: the surround appears in complementary colour, whereas the white centre takes on the colour of the surround. The question of whether such colour induction is located in the retina or more centrally was tested in a brain-injured patient with hemianopia. It could be demonstrated that areas of the visual field that are no longer represented in the geniculo-striatal pathway still contribute to colour induction, suggesting that colour induction is a retinal phenomenon.     

使用三色光栅的白光彩色联合变换相关器

本文提出了在彩色联合变换中使用光栅对彩色物体进行分通道处理的方法;讨论了实现此方法对光源、滤色片的限制,并基于此讨论结果提出了一种使用三色光栅图像编码的分通道解决方法．这种方法不但降低了对光源的限制,而且也便于取向不同的功率谱进行分通道并行处理,包括并行地使用零级功率谱进行彩色图像的仅形状相关．     

Functions of the ON and OFF channels of the visual system

In the mammalian eye, the ON-centre and OFF-centre retinal ganglion cells form two major pathways projecting to central visual structures from the retina. These two pathways originate at the bipolar cell level: one class of bipolar cells becomes hyperpolarized in response to light, as do all photoreceptor cells, and the other class becomes depolarized on exposure to light, thereby inverting the receptor signal. It has recently become possible to examine the functional role of the ON-pathway in vision by selectively blocking it at the bipolar cell level using the glutamate neurotransmitter analogue 2-amino-4-phosphonobutyrate (APB)1. APB application to monkey, cat and rabbit retinas abolishes ON responses in retinal ganglion cells, the lateral geniculate nucleus and the visual cortex but has no effect on the centre-surround antagonism of OFF cells or the orientation and direction selectivities in the cortex2-5. These and related findings6-11 suggest that the ON and OFF pathways remain largely separate through the lateral geniculate nucleus and that in the cortex, contrary to some hypotheses, they are not directly involved in mechanisms giving rise to orientation and direction selectivities. We have examined the roles of the ON and OFF channels in vision in rhesus monkeys trained to do visual detection and discrimination tasks. We report here that the ON channel is reversibly blocked by injection of APB into the vitreous. Detection of light increment but not of light decrement is severely impaired, and there is a pronounced loss in contrast sensitivity. The perception of shape, colour, flicker, movement and stereo images is only mildly impaired, but longer times are required for their discrimination. Our results suggest that two reasons that the mammalian visual system has both ON and OFF channels is to yield equal sensitivity and rapid information transfer for both incremental and decremental light stimuli and to facilitate high contrast sensitivity.     

工作辊辊形对中厚板侧弯的影响分析

分析工作辊辊形与侧弯的关系,可知工作辊有载辊形为正时,轧件易出现侧弯,轧制稳定性差·同时根据仿真计算得知:①支撑辊凸度保持不变,在同一轧件宽度下,如果工作辊无载辊形从凸形变成凹形,工作辊有载凸度逐渐减小;②支撑辊凸度保持不变,轧件越宽,则轧辊有载凸度的变化范围越大;③支撑辊凸度从正值变成负值,会使工作辊有载凸度曲线近似向上平移·为此采用以下措施有利于中厚板侧弯的控制:①在配辊时将上工作辊磨出一定的负凸度;②将支撑辊磨出一定的正凸度;③轧制初期多安排成品宽度较小的轧件进行轧制·     

双电极钛钙型碳钢焊条焊芯间距对焊接工艺及电弧形态的影响

采用平板堆焊的方法及高速摄像系统,研究了双电极钛钙型碳钢焊条的焊芯间距对焊接工艺和电弧形态的影响。结果表明,双电极钛钙型碳钢焊条的焊芯间距是影响电弧电压的最重要因素。在焊接过程中,调节双电极焊条与工件间距对电弧电压的影响很小;随着焊芯间距的增大,电弧电压升高,焊条套筒形状由两边尖、中间凹逐渐变为两边凹、中间凸的形状,焊接电弧由小而集中变为大而分散。对于药皮质量系数为45.6%、直径为4mm的双电极钛钙型碳钢焊条(双焊芯),在电流为200A的条件下,当焊芯间距为1.2～1.7mm时焊缝成形较好。     

A neurological dissociation between perceiving objects and grasping them

Studies of the visual capacity of neurological patients have provided evidence for a dissociation between the perceptual report of a visual stimulus and the ability to direct spatially accurate movements toward that stimulus. Some patients with damage to the parietal lobe, for example, are unable to reach accurately towards visual targets that they unequivocally report seeing. Conversely, some patients with extensive damage to primary visual cortex can make accurate pointing movements or saccades toward a stimulus presented in their 'blind' scotoma. But in investigations of visuomotor control in patients with visual disorders, little consideration has been given to complex acts such as manual prehension. Grasping a three-dimensional object requires knowledge not only of the object's spatial location, but also of its form, orientation and size. We have examined a patient with a profound disorder in the perception of such object qualities. Our quantitative analyses demonstrate strikingly accurate guidance of hand and finger movements directed at the very objects whose qualities she fails to perceive. These data suggest that the neural substrates for the visual perception of object qualities such as shape, orientation and size are distinct from those underlying the use of those qualities in the control of manual skills.     

利用双凹面实现三维显示

真三维动态显示是图像显示技术发展的一个主要目标.基于双凹面镜可观察到物体的三维实像,一项新的三维显示方案被提出:用单凹面拍摄,用双凹面实现三维显示.该方案可实现真三维动态显示,其成像光路模拟了双凹面镜成实像,显示方案具有可行性.该三维显示方案对凹面的要求:两凹面顶点间的距离是凹面曲率半径的3/2倍或1/2倍时,能在圆孔处看见三维像, 看见像的角度范围分别为104.48°和138.59°.     

Force can overcome object geometry in the perception of shape through active touch

Haptic (touch) perception normally entails an active exploration of object surfaces over time. This is called active touch. When exploring the shape of an object, we experience both geometrical and force cues. For example, when sliding a finger across a surface with a rigid bump on it, the finger moves over the bump while being opposed by a force whose direction and magnitude are related to the slope of the bump. The steeper the bump, the stronger the resistance. Geometrical and force cues are correlated, but it has been commonly assumed that shape perception relies on object geometry alone. Here we show that regardless of surface geometry, subjects identified and located shape features on the basis of force cues or their correlates. Using paradoxical stimuli, for example combining the force cues of a bump with the geometry of a hole, we found that subjects perceived a bump. Conversely, when combining the force cues of a hole with the geometry of a bump, subjects typically perceived a hole.