Is the Kanizsa illusion triggered by the simultaneous contrast mechanism?

Current illusory contour models do not predict the disappearance of the Kanizsa illusion due to specific spatial luminance distributions within the inducers. We suggest that these stimulus conditions are characterized by an insufficient amount of induced brightness. Our model's core assumption is that contour edge detection of the Kanizsa illusion and the simultaneous contrast (brightness induction) effect are triggered by the same mechanism. The simultaneous contrast can immunize the occlusion detection mechanism against spatial and temporal noise. Our model contains physiologically inspired building blocks that detect the oriented contour edges, complete the illusory contours, and enhance them. The model succeeds in predicting the appearance and the disappearance of many different Kanizsa illusion variants.     

Induction effects for heterochromatic brightness matching, heterochromatic flicker photometry, and minimally distinct border: implications for the neural mechanisms underlying induction

Brightness induction refers to the finding that the apparent brightness of a stimulus changes when surrounded by a black versus a white stimulus. In the current study, we investigated the effects of black/white surrounding stimuli on settings made between red and green stimuli on three different tasks: heterochromatic brightness matching (HBM), heterochromatic flicker photometry (HFP), and minimally distinct border (MDB). For HBM, subjects varied the relative luminance between the red and green stimuli so that the brightness of the two colors appeared equal. For the two other tasks, matches were made based on minimizing red/green flicker (HFP) or the saliency of a red/green border (MDB). For all three tasks, the presence of black/white surrounding stimuli significantly altered red/green settings, demonstrating the existence of induction effects. These results are discussed in terms of which underlying color pathways (L+ M versus L-M) may contribute to induction effects for the different tasks.     

The Design and Preparation of Achromatic Cemented Cube Beam-splitters

A study is made of the problems in preparing cemented cube beam-splitters which are absorption free, spectrally neutral and provide equal reflectance and transmittance for unpolarized light. Several designs are discussed and it is concluded that the most practicable is a six-layer coating of zinc sulphide and magnesium fluoride enclosed in a crown glass cube. When used in a visual instrument, the reflected and transmitted images formed by this beam-splitter are sensibly equal in brightness and colour.     

Surround articulation. I. Brightness judgments

It has been hypothesized that brightness judgments require an estimate of the illuminant. Making this estimate is difficult since luminance edges can be the result of changes in either illumination or reflectance. Articulation is the addition of equally spaced incremental and decremental patches within a surround while preserving the surround's space-average luminance. It is proposed that articulation enhances the inference that the surround's luminance edge is due to a change in illumination rather than in reflectance. Articulation results in a corresponding shift in brightness judgments for test-patch increments but not for decrements. This finding concurs with Arend and Goldstein's [J. Opt. Soc. Am. A 4, 2281 (1987)] reported shifts in brightness as simple center-surround stimuli are transformed into more complex ecologically valid Mondrians.     

Physico‐Mechanical Properties of Starch‐Based Films Containing Naturally Derived Antimicrobial Agents

Thermoplastic starch (TPS) films containing relatively low [0.75 ± 0.08% (w/w)], intermediate [1.08 ± 0.04% (w/w)] and high [3.20 ± 0.29% (w/w)] levels of the antimicrobial (AM) agents carvacrol, linalool and thymol were prepared, and their physico‐mechanical and optical properties were evaluated. Addition of these AM agents to TPS film reduced the tensile strength with increasing AM agent content, with a significant effect observed at the highest AM agent concentration. The Young's modulus and elongation at break increased with increasing AM agent concentration, especially at the highest formulation concentration of AM agent. Films having a low or intermediate formulation concentration of AM agent exhibited no significant effect on their water vapour permeability, transparency and thermal properties when compared to the control film. Although scanning electron microscope imaging suggested a significant and progressive change in the surface morphologies of the films with AM agent concentration, the overall effects on the tested properties were not significant. This suggests that the direct incorporation of AM agents into TPS films did not adversely affect the films, particularly at lower AM agent concentrations. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

基于红黄蓝的数字化的设计色彩关系研究

论述了色彩数字化的概念,并对标准的红黄蓝三原色正本清源,提出了红黄蓝是色彩变化的DNA 密码,分析了红黄蓝的数字化与色相变化、纯度变化和明度变化的关系,进而分析了红黄蓝的数字化与色彩的对比调和、色彩组合的“错觉”以及颜料的关系。     

A Perceptual Effect on the Control of Fixation

The relative importance of geometric and perceptual aspects of a visual target in the control of fixation was examined using the Muller-Lyer illusion as a four-point fixation target. It was found that the fixation position was displaced from that expected on the basis of target geometry when the illusion was seen, and that the amount of displacement was proportional to the strength of the illusion (defined as the amount by which the length of one part of the composite figure must be altered so that both ‘arrows’ appear to be of equal length). The effect did not occur when the illusion was destroyed by presenting the parts of the Muller-Lyer figure separately. The selection of the desired position on the retina for the image of a fixated target is thus not solely a function of the geometry of the target. Perceived or phenomenological aspects of the target also exert an effect in the selection of image position.     

Invariant cone-excitation ratios may predict transparency

Cone-excitation ratios for pairs of surfaces are almost invariant under changes in illumination and offer a possible basis for color constancy [Proc. R. Soc. London Ser. B 257, 115 (1994)]. We extend this idea to the perception of transparency on the basis of the close analogy between the changes in color signals that occur for surfaces when the illumination changes and the changes in color signals when the surfaces are covered by a filter. This study presents measurements and simulations to investigate the conditions under which cone-excitation ratios are statistically invariant for physically transparent systems. The invariance breaks down when the spectral transmission of the filters is low at some or all wavelengths. We suggest that cone-excitation ratios might be useful to define the stimulus conditions necessary for the perception of transparency.     

Luminace, not brightness, determines temporal brightness enhancement with chromatic stimuli.

Brightness-duration relations for chromatic stimuli were studied using three pulse-to-background luminace relations: chromatic equal-luminance pulses (3.2 cd/m2) were presented as increments of 0.3 or 1.0 log units above a lower luminance achromatic background, or were presented in hue substitution, equated in luminance to the achromatic background, so that no spatio-temporal luminance transients occurred during stimulus presentation. Incremental pulses produced temporal brightness enhancement (the Broca-Sulzer phenomenon), but hue substitution pulses did not. Temporal brightness enhancement thus depends upon the occurrence of luminance transients and cannot be produced by pulsed-to-background brightness differences associated solely with chromaticity differences.     

Revisiting spatial vision: toward a unifying model

We report contrast detection, contrast increment, contrast masking, orientation discrimination, and spatial frequency discrimination thresholds for spatially localized stimuli at 4 degrees of eccentricity. Our stimulus geometry emphasizes interactions among overlapping visual filters and differs from that used in previous threshold measurements, which also admits interactions among distant filters. We quantitatively account for all measurements by simulating a small population of overlapping visual filters interacting through divisive inhibition. We depart from previous models of this kind in the parameters of divisive inhibition and in using a statistically efficient decision stage based on Fisher information. The success of this unified account suggests that, contrary to Bowne [Vision Res. 30, 449 (1990)], spatial vision thresholds reflect a single level of processing, perhaps as early as primary visual cortex.     

Pursuit eye movements to second-order motion targets

We studied smooth-pursuit eye movements elicited by first- and second-order motion stimuli. Stimuli were random dot fields whose contrast was modulated by a Gaussian window with a space constant of 0.5 degrees. For the first-order stimuli, the random dots simply moved across the screen at the same speed as the window; for the second-order stimuli the window moved across stationary or randomly flickering dots. Additional stimuli which combined first- and second-order motion cues were used to determine the degree and type of interaction found between the two types of motion stimuli. Measurements were made at slow (1 degrees/s) and moderate (6 degrees/s) target speeds. At a velocity of 1 degrees/s the initiation, transition, and steady-state phases of smooth pursuit in response to second-order motion targets are severely affected when compared with the smooth pursuit of first-order motion targets. At a velocity of 6 degrees/s there is a small but significant deficit in steady-state pursuit of second-order motion targets but not much effect on pursuit initiation.     

Shape-Effect in the Effective Laws of Plain and Rubberized Concrete

The procedure of the effective law outlined in this paper [Ferretti (2001); Ferretti and Di Leo (2003); Ferretti (2004b)] is an experimental procedure for identifying the constitutive law in uniaxial compression of brittle heterogeneous materials, and is based on the physical, analytical and numerical discussions about the existence or otherwise of strain-softening [Ferretti (2004a); Ferretti (2005)]. This procedure allows us to correct several incongruities that characterize the average stress versus average strain diagrams: it produces evidence against strain-softening in uniaxial compression [Ferretti (2004b)], whose existence may be questioned from a physical point of view [Ferretti (2004a); Ferretti (2005)], it provides effective stress versus effective strain laws that are size-effect insensitive [Ferretti (2004b)] and identifies Poisson's ratio and volumetric strain, which are independent of the degree of damage during the compression test [Ferretti (2004c)], as should be the case for all constitutive parameters. The procedure also allows us to explain the gradual change of shape in the average stress versus average strain laws when a confinement pressure is applied to the specimen [Ferretti and Di Leo (2003)]. Moreover, the procedure emphasizes how the final stage in compressed concrete specimens is largely characterized by the propagation of a macro-crack, rather than by crushing. This puts a question mark on the existence of creep, which, according to the identified effective parameters, seems mainly to be a structural effect due to crack propagation [Ferretti and Di Leo (2008)]. In this paper, the identification procedure of the effective law is applied to cubic and cylindrical concrete specimens, in order to verify whether or not the effective law is sensitive to shape-effect. Two different concrete mixtures were used, the one of plain and the other of rubberized concrete. New relationships were also proposed for design purposes, both for plain and rubberized concrete.     

Beam-splitting cube for fringe-projection, holographic, and shearographic interferometry

We describe a simple method in which the techniques of fringe-projection, holographic, and shearographic interferometry may be readily realized with a commercial beam-splitting cube, a laser source, and a beam expander. With the use of a computer algorithm, moiré fringes may be derived digitally from the fringes that are projected onto a reference surface and onto an object surface. Successful use of the beam-splitting cube for these optical methods is attributed to the refraction of the two split beams that exit from the two adjacent faces of the cube. By careful orientation of the cube, the two refracted light beams will converge and interfere, resulting in the formation of Young's interference fringes for the fringe-projection method. When the hypotenuse of the beam-splitting cube is placed nearly normal to an illuminated object, both the image and the mirror image of the object will be formed behind the cube where a camera is placed. This optical setup thus forms the basis for double-exposure holography when these two images are fully overlapped and for shearography when the images are slightly laterally displaced.     

Psychophysical model of chromatic perceptual transparency based on substractive color mixture

Variants of Metelli's episcotister model, which are based on additive color mixture, have been found to describe the luminance conditions for perceptual transparency very accurately. However, the findings in the chromatic domain are not that clear-cut, since there exist chromatic stimuli that conform to the additive model but do not appear transparent. We present evidence that such failures are of a systematic nature, and we propose an alternative psychophysical model based on subtractive color mixture. Results of a computer simulation revealed that this model approximately describes color changes that occur when a surface is covered by a filter. We present the results of two psychophysical experiments with chromatic stimuli, in which we directly compared the predictions of the additive model and the predictions of the new model. These results show that the color relations leading to the perception of a homogeneous transparent layer conform very closely to the predictions of the new model and deviate systematically from the predictions of the additive model.     

Precision, accuracy, and range of perceived achromatic transparency

How accurately do human observers perceive the properties of an achromatic transparent filter with both reflective and transmissive components? To address this question, a novel six-luminance stimulus was employed, consisting of three transparent layer luminances set against three background luminances, which satisfied the conventional constraints of perceptual transparency. In one experiment, subjects adjusted one of the three layer luminances to complete the impression of a uniform transparent disk. It was found that the luminance-based formulation of Metelli's episcotister model and a model based on ratios of Michelson contrasts best predicted the subjects' settings, which were both accurate and precise. In another experiment, pairs of stimuli selected from a range with various values of the adjustable layer luminance were presented in a series of forced-choice trials. A modified implementation of the pair comparisons method was employed to recover the distribution that describes each subject's preference pattern. Results showed that there exists a reasonably wide range of stimuli that give rise to at least some degree of perceived transparency.     

Bioinspired Flexible Volatile Organic Compounds Sensor Based on Dynamic Surface Wrinkling with Dual‐Signal Response

Living systems can respond to external stimuli by dynamic interface changes. Moreover, natural wrinkle structures allow the surface to switch dynamically and reversibly from flat to rough in response to specific stimuli. Artificial wrinkle structures have been developed for applications such as optical devices, mechanical sensors, and microfluidic devices. However, chemical molecule‐triggered flexible sensors based on dynamic surface wrinkling have not been demonstrated. Inspired by human skin wrinkling, herein, a volatile organic compound (VOC)‐responsive flexible sensor with a switchable dual‐signal response (transparency and resistance) is achieved based on a multilayered Ag nanowire (AgNW)/SiO_x/polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) film. Wrinkle structures can form dynamically in response to VOC vapors (such as ethanol, toluene, acetone, formaldehyde, and methanol) due to the instability of the multilayer induced by their different swelling capabilities. By controlling the modulus of PDMS and the thickness of the SiO_x layer, tunable sensitivities in resistance and transparency of the device are achieved. Additionally, the proximity mechanism of the solubility parameter is proposed, which explains the high selectivity of the device toward ethanol vapor compared with that of other VOCs well. This stimuli‐responsive sensor exhibits the dynamic visual feedback and the quantitative electrical signal, which provide a novel approach for developing smart flexible electronics.     

Time course of brightness under transient glare condition

It was shown that a peripheral glare source reduces the brightness of a foveal stimulus. We hypothesized that this brightness reduction is governed by an inhibitory effect of the glare source on the test. We reported the results of an investigation of the dynamic of brightness reduction of an incremental stimulus immediately after the onset of a glare source in the field of view. A magnitude comparison paradigm using constant stimuli was adopted to determine the luminance that appeared equal in brightness to the standard patch. The luminance of the standard stimulus was in the mesopic range (0.5 cd/m2), and the levels of glare were 15 and 60 lx. Results showed that the time course of brightness reduction followed the typical shape attributed to the Broca-Sulzer effect. Data were fitted with a model that first considers the response of a peripheral ganglion cell to glare and then its inhibitory effect on the test signals. We discussed the plausibility of a postretinal stage of processing.     

Evidence for the contribution of S cones to the detection of flicker brightness and red-green

We were interested in the question of how cones contribute to the detection of brightness, red-green, and blue-yellow. The linear combination of cone signals contributing to flicker detection was determined by fitting a plane to 64 points (colors) of equal heterochromatic flicker brightness. A small S-cone contribution to flicker brightness of similar amplitude in all five subjects was identified. The ratio of L- to M-cone contribution was found to vary considerably among subjects (1.7-4.1). Chromatic detection thresholds were determined for small patches in the isoluminant plane defined by flicker brightness. These stimuli were presented at an eccentricity of 40 arc min. By using color naming at the detection threshold, one can attribute different segments of the resulting detection ellipses to different chromatic mechanisms. Linear approximation of these segments provided an estimate for the contribution of the different cone types to the detection of red-green and blue-yellow. The results are consistent with the hypothesis that S cones contribute to the red-green mechanism with the same sign as that of the contribution from L cones. The blue-yellow mechanism very probably subtracts S-cone contrast from luminance contrast. The detection ellipse can be mapped into a circle in cone difference space. The base of this canonical transformation is a set of three cone fundamentals that differs from previously published estimates. Projecting the circle onto the three cone difference axes produces sinusoidal changes within the respective excitations. We propose that simultaneous sinusoidal changes of equal increment in the three cone difference excitations generate stimuli differing by equal saliency.     

Wide‐Range Tuning and Enhancement of Organic Long‐Persistent Luminescence Using Emitter Dopants

Most long‐persistent luminescent (LPL) materials, which slowly release energy absorbed from ambient light, are based on inorganic compounds. Organic long‐persistent luminescent (OLPL) systems have advantages over inorganic LPL materials in terms of solubility, transparency, and flexibility. Here, the characteristics of OLPL emission are improved by doping emitter molecules into an OLPL matrix. Greenish‐blue to red and even warm white emission are achieved by energy transfer from exciplex in the OLPL matrix to the emitter dopants. The dopants also improve brightness and emission duration through efficient radiative decay and the trapping of electrons, respectively. This technique will enable the development of a wide range of organic glow‐in‐the‐dark paints.     

Color and luminance asymmetries in the clear sky

A long-standing assumption about the clear sky is that its colors and luminances are distributed symmetrically about the principal plane. As useful as this approximation is, our digital-image analyses show that clear-sky color and luminance routinely depart perceptibly from exact symmetry. These analyses reconfirm our earlier measurements with narrow field-of-view spectroradiometers [J. Opt. Soc. Am. A 18, 1325 (2001)], and they do so with much higher temporal and angular resolution across the entire sky dome.