The perception and misperception of optical defocus, shading, and shape

The human visual system is tasked with recovering the different physical sources of optical structure that generate our retinal images. Separate research has focused on understanding how the visual system estimates (a) environmental sources of image structure and (b) blur induced by the eye’s limited focal range, but little is known about how the visual system distinguishes environmental sources from optical defocus. Here, we present evidence that this is a fundamental perceptual problem and provide insights into how and when the visual system succeeds and fails in solving it. We show that fully focused surface shading can be misperceived as defocused and that optical blur can be misattributed to the material properties and shape of surfaces. We further reveal how these misperceptions depend on the relationship between shading gradients and sharp contours, and conclude that computations of blur are inherently linked to computations of surface shape, material, and illumination.

[1]  A. Torralba,et al.  Specular reflections and the perception of shape. , 2004, Journal of vision.

[2]  Astrid M L Kappers,et al.  Shape-from-shading for matte and glossy objects. , 2006, Acta psychologica.

[3]  James T Todd,et al.  The effects of smooth occlusions and directions of illumination on the visual perception of 3-D shape from shading. , 2015, Journal of vision.

[4]  V. S. Ramachandran,et al.  Perception of shape from shading , 1988, Nature.

[5]  Barton L Anderson,et al.  Image statistics do not explain the perception of gloss and lightness. , 2009, Journal of vision.

[6]  Michael A. Webster,et al.  Neural adjustments to image blur , 2010 .

[7]  Donald P. Greenberg,et al.  Toward a psychophysically-based light reflection model for image synthesis , 2000, SIGGRAPH.

[8]  Phillip J. Marlow,et al.  Photogeometric Cues to Perceived Surface Shading , 2019, Current Biology.

[9]  J J Koenderink,et al.  What Does the Occluding Contour Tell Us about Solid Shape? , 1984, Perception.

[10]  James T Todd,et al.  Perceptual biases in the interpretation of 3D shape from shading , 2004, Vision Research.

[11]  Phillip J. Marlow,et al.  The perception of gloss depends on highlight congruence with surface shading. , 2011, Journal of vision.

[12]  P ? ? ? ? ? ? ? % ? ? ? ? , 1991 .

[13]  G. Mather.  The Use of Image Blur as a Depth Cue , 1997, Perception.

[14]  G. Mather,et al.  Blur Discrimination and its Relation to Blur-Mediated Depth Perception , 2002, Perception.

[15]  Shree K. Nayar,et al.  Diffuse reflectance from rough surfaces , 1993, Proceedings of IEEE Conference on Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition.

[16]  Tony DeRose,et al.  Efficient, fair interpolation using Catmull-Clark surfaces , 1993, SIGGRAPH.

[17]  David J. Kriegman,et al.  The Bas-Relief Ambiguity , 2004, International Journal of Computer Vision.

[18]  Steven R. Ali,et al.  “Bothersome blur”: A functional unit of blur perception , 2006, Vision Research.

[19]  Lina J. Karam,et al.  Human Visual System Based No-Reference Objective Image Sharpness Metric , 2006, 2006 International Conference on Image Processing.

[20]  H H Bülthoff,et al.  A Prior for Global Convexity in Local Shape-from-Shading , 2001, Perception.

[21]  Patricia Ladret,et al.  The blur effect: perception and estimation with a new no-reference perceptual blur metric , 2007, Electronic Imaging.

[22]  J T Todd,et al.  Ambiguity and the ‘Mental Eye’ in Pictorial Relief , 2001, Perception.

[23]  S. Zucker,et al.  Shape-from-shading on a cloudy day , 1994 .

[24]  J. Todd,et al.  Is the perception of 3D shape from shading based on assumed reflectance and illumination? , 2014, i-Perception.

[25]  I P Howard,et al.  Occluding Edges in Apparent Reversal of Convexity and Concavity , 1983, Perception.

[26]  J. Todd,et al.  Effects of changing viewing conditions on the perceived structure of smoothly curved surfaces. , 1996, Journal of experimental psychology. Human perception and performance.

[27]  Roland W Fleming,et al.  Real-world illumination and the perception of surface reflectance properties. , 2003, Journal of vision.

[28]  Alex Pentland,et al.  A New Sense for Depth of Field , 1985, IEEE Transactions on Pattern Analysis and Machine Intelligence.

[29]  D. Tolhurst,et al.  Discrimination of changes in the second-order statistics of natural and synthetic images , 1994, Vision Research.

[30]  Jan J. Koenderink,et al.  Perception of illuminance flow in the case of anisotropic rough surfaces , 2007, Perception & psychophysics.

[31]  Phillip J. Marlow,et al.  The Perception and Misperception of Specular Surface Reflectance , 2012, Current Biology.

[32]  Pascal Mamassian.  Isophotes on a smooth surface related to scene geometry , 1993, Optics & Photonics.

[33]  R Sekuler,et al.  Blur and Contrast as Pictorial Depth Cues , 1997, Perception.

[34]  E. Mingolla,et al.  Perception of solid shape from shading , 1989, Biological Cybernetics.

[35]  H. Barrow,et al.  RECOVERING INTRINSIC SCENE CHARACTERISTICS FROM IMAGES , 1978 .

[36]  B. Anderson,et al.  Specular Image Structure Modulates the Perception of Three-Dimensional Shape , 2014, Current Biology.

[37]  George Mather,et al.  Depth cue integration: stereopsis and image blur , 2000, Vision Research.

[38]  M. Ernst,et al.  Focus cues affect perceived depth. , 2005, Journal of vision.

[39]  Alex Pentland,et al.  Local Shading Analysis , 1984, IEEE Transactions on Pattern Analysis and Machine Intelligence.

[40]  George Mather,et al.  Image blur as a pictorial depth cue , 1996, Proceedings of the Royal Society of London. Series B: Biological Sciences.

[41]  J T Todd,et al.  Perceived depth inversion of smoothly curved surfaces due to image orientation. , 1990, Journal of experimental psychology. Human perception and performance.

[42]  Berthold K. P. Horn,et al.  Shape from shading , 1989 .

[43]  James F. O'Brien,et al.  Using blur to affect perceived distance and size , 2010, TOGS.

[44]  C. A. Burbeck,et al.  Occlusion edge blur: a cue to relative visual depth. , 1996, Journal of the Optical Society of America. A, Optics, image science, and vision.

[45]  J. Todd,et al.  Ordinal structure in the visual perception and cognition of smoothly curved surfaces. , 1989, Psychological review.

[46]  V Bruce,et al.  A Comparison between the Hollow-Face and ‘Hollow-Potato’ Illusions , 1994, Perception.

[47]  J. Koenderink,et al.  Light Direction from Shad(ow)ed Random Gaussian Surfaces , 2004, Perception.

[48]  J. Koenderink,et al.  Surface perception in pictures , 1992, Perception & psychophysics.

[49]  Hans-Peter Seidel,et al.  Real-time lens blur effects and focus control , 2010, SIGGRAPH 2010.