Quasi‐Three‐Dimensional Angle‐Tolerant Electromagnetic Illusion Using Ultrathin Metasurface Coatings

Low‐profile and light‐weight coatings that offer comprehensive manipulation of the electromagnetic scattering for finite‐length objects are highly desirable, but not yet achieved, for applications including camouflaging, deceptive sensing, radar cognition control, and defense security. Here, for the first time, the theory, practical design, and experimental demonstration of quasi‐three‐dimensional and angle‐tolerant electromagnetic illusion coatings are presented which have been enabled by ultrathin single‐layer functional metasurfaces. By controlling the multiple Mie scattering coefficients using the tangential and non‐vanishing radial electromagnetic responses of the metasurface, the quasi‐two‐dimensional coating transforms the electromagnetic perception of one object to mimic that of another which has been pre‐selected by the designer. The illusion coating, which is homogeneous but anisotropic, is realized using hundreds of composite electric and magnetic sub‐wavelength unit cells operating at frequencies away from their resonance. Two different prototypes of the metasurface illusion coatings were fabricated and characterized, demonstrating very good camouflaging performance for finite‐length dielectric as well as conducting objects within a field‐of‐view up to ±10° off normal. This work paves the way for practical artificially engineered material coatings with exotic and versatile scattering control capabilities that would enable a wide range of applications throughout the entire electromagnetic spectrum.     

浮雕幻影釉面砖的研制

采用隐形浮雕陶瓷装饰技术制备具有浮雕幻影的釉面砖。在不对现有釉面砖配方及生产工艺参数做出重大改变的基础上,探讨了特殊花釉配方组成、印油配方组成和印油与特殊花釉釉料配比等工艺因素对釉面砖装饰效果的影响,通过相关工艺参数优化,达到浮雕幻影的特殊装饰效果。     

光的运用--建筑空间灵魂的塑造

光线是揭示生活的因素之一,光线又是推动生命活动的一种力量。把光线视为独立的视觉现象来对待,利用光线形成视错觉,则会创造出特殊的环境艺术效果。论述了如何利用影子、光斑、高光及泛光照明塑造建筑空间环境。     

错视图形在标志设计中的应用

错视图形能给人一种超越时空的奇妙感即视觉悖论,并展现出隐藏在自然秩序中的那些普遍而神秘的美,这恰恰与标志艺术的设计追求相吻合.分析了标志设计和错视美的内在联系,指出错视美能够使标志获得形式上的永恒生命,并就如何取得标志形式中的错视美作了论述.     

Further analysis of perception of the standard Müller-Lyer figures in pigeons (Columba livia) and humans (Homo sapiens): Effects of length of brackets.

Nakamura, Fujita, Ushitani, & Miyata (2006) have shown that pigeons perceive the standard Müller-Lyer illusion. In this report, the authors examined effects of bracket sizes on perception of this illusion in pigeons (Columba livia) and humans (Homo sapiens). In Experiment 1, three pigeons were retrained to classify six lengths of target lines into “long” and “short” by pecking two keys on the monitor, ignoring the two brackets oriented toward the same direction. In the tests that followed, the standard Müller-Lyer figures of different bracket sizes were presented. All birds chose “long” more frequently for the figures having inward-pointing brackets (>), regardless of bracket sizes. The overestimation of the target lines of inward-pointing figures continued to increase in pigeons, whereas it decreased as the bracket size became longer in humans (Experiment 2). The results suggest that these two species perceive the standard Müller-Lyer illusion with long brackets in different ways. Perhaps pigeons might not perceive illusions induced by contrast with the surrounding stimuli. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Comparison of grouping abilities in humans (Homo sapiens) and baboons (Papio papio) with the Ebbinghaus illusion.

This research comparatively assessed grouping mechanisms of humans (n = 8) and baboons (n = 8) in an illusory task that employs configurations of target and surrounding circles arranged to induce the Ebbinghaus (Titchener) illusion. Analyses of response behaviors and points of subjective equality demonstrated that only humans misjudged the central target size under the influence of the Ebbinghaus illusion, whereas baboons expressed a more veridical perception of target sizes. It is argued that humans adopted a global mode of stimulus processing of the illusory figure in our task that has favored the illusion. By contrast, a strong local mode of stimulus processing with attention restricted to the target must have prevented illusory effects in baboons. These findings suggest that monkeys and humans have evolved modes of object recognition that do not similarly rely on the same gestalt principles. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Overcoming contradiction in the four-dimensional dialectic of action.

Author argues that the implicit bias against theism is part of a larger pattern of ignoring the realm of illusion (Pruyser, 1983) and related products of culture. In response, each psychologist must develop an integrated theory that incorporates four dimensions of human experience: intrapersonal, interpersonal, impersonal, and transpersonal. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Moving shadows contribute to the corridor illusion in a chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes).

Previous studies have reported that backgrounds depicting linear perspective and texture gradients influence relative size discrimination in nonhuman animals (known as the “corridor illusion”), but research has not yet identified the other kinds of depth cues contributing to the corridor illusion. This study examined the effects of linear perspective and shadows on the responses of a chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes) to the corridor illusion. The performance of the chimpanzee was worse when a smaller object was presented at the farther position on a background reflecting a linear perspective, implying that the corridor illusion was replicated in the chimpanzee (Imura, Tomonaga, & Yagi, 2008). The extent of the illusion changed as a function of the position of the shadows cast by the objects only when the shadows were moving in synchrony with the objects. These findings suggest that moving shadows and linear perspective contributed to the corridor illusion in a chimpanzee. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The bicycle illusion: Sidewalk science informs the integration of motion and shape perception.

The authors describe a new visual illusion first discovered in a natural setting. A cyclist riding beside a pair of sagging chains that connect fence posts appears to move up and down with the chains. In this illusion, a static shape (the chains) affects the perception of a moving shape (the bicycle), and this influence involves assimilation (averaging) rather than opposition (differentiation). These features distinguish the illusion from illusions of motion capture and induced motion. The authors take this bicycle illusion into the laboratory and report 4 findings: Na?ve viewers experience the illusion when discriminating horizontal from sinusoidal motion of a disc in the context of stationary curved lines; the illusion shifts from motion assimilation to motion opposition as the visual size of the display is increased; the assimilation and opposition illusions are dissociated by variations in luminance contrast of the stationary lines and the moving disc; and the illusion does not occur when simply comparing two stationary objects at different locations along the curved lines. The bicycle illusion provides a unique opportunity for studying the interactions between shape and motion perception. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Radical Post-Modernism and Content: Charles Jencks and Rem Koolhaas Debate the Issue

The following debate took place on 28 December 2009 between Charles Jencks and Rem Koolhaas , and was transcribed and edited by Eva Branscome. Jencks and Koolhaas have exchanged ideas since the late 1960s. Jencks was the one to insist that Koolhaas come to the 1980 Venice Biennale, originally entitled ‘Post-Modernism’. (Paolo Portoghesi invited Jencks to collaborate with him on this first Biennale before it expanded into historicism.) In January 2002, Jencks was also a judge of the competition for the CCTV Building, the headquarters for China Central Television in Beijing, discussed below. Jencks and Koolhaas continue to thrive on their discussions and disagreements. Although they have very different commitments to the issue of ‘content’, their varying positions help to clarify what is meant here by ‘radical’. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.