Study reveals why eyes in some paintings seem to foll...( their questions the researchers needed...)

their questions, the researchers needed to determine how the apparent 3D structure of the object depicted in the picture was influenced by changes in the viewing direction. They were particularly interested whether points that appeared to be closest or farthest in depth relative to other neighboring points would remain the same when the picture was observed at different viewing angles. They also wanted to determine how the relative magnitude of the perceived depth in different regions of the picture would be affected when viewed at different angles.

In order to address these issues, the researchers did two types of tasks. In one, they moved a dot around on the computer screen to show which points on the torso appeared to be nearest and which appeared to be the furthest away. The researchers did this hundreds of times to find near points and far points on various parts of the torso.

In a second task, they used a gauge figure (a circle with a needle sticking out) that had to be placed on the torso so it looked to be flat against the surface (The needle had to appear like it was perpendicular to the surface of the torso). This allowed the researchers to determine how viewers perceived the 3D shape of the depicted object.

The researchers repeated this process for six different conditions, including sessions in which they looked straight at the monitor, and others in which they looked at it from an angle. Each researcher repeated these tasks three times for each of the six experimental conditions.

"These experiments took hours," Todd said. "We made judgments at numerous probe points on each image, so that when all of the different conditions were completed we ended up making thousands of settings over the course of the experiment.

"From all that data we were able to mathematically construct a surface that is most consistent with the overall pattern of judgments in each condition."

However, the different viewing conditions
'"/>

Contact: James Todd
Todd.44@osu.edu
614-292-8661
Ohio State University
20-Sep-2004

Page: 1 2 3 4
Related biology news :

1. Study: Emission of smog ingredients from trees is increasing rapidly
2. Study explores gene transfer to modify underlying course of Alzheimers disease
3. Study by Israeli scientists provides insight on DNA code
4. Study reveals first genetic step necessary for prostate cancer growth
5. Study of flu patients reveals virus outsmarting key drug
6. Study in Science reveals recreational fishing takes big bite of ocean catch
7. Study suggests cell-cycle triggers might be cancer drug targets
8. Study narrows search for genes placing men at increased risk for prostate cancer
9. Study links high carbohydrate diet to increased breast cancer risk
10. Study explains spatial orientation differences between sexes
11. Study suggests humans can speed evolution