Abstract

We show that the amplitude spectrum of a texture pattern, regardless of its phase spectrum, can be used to predict whether the pattern will convey the veridical three-dimensional (3-D) shape of the surface on which it lies. Patterns from the Brodatz collection of natural textures were overlaid on a flat surface that was then corrugated in depth and projected in perspective. Perceived ordinal shapes, reconstructed from a series of local relative depth judgments, showed that only about a third of the patterns conveyed veridical shape. The phase structure of each pattern was then randomized. Simulated concavities and convexities were presented for both the Brodatz and the phase-randomized patterns in a global shape identification task. The concordance between the shapes perceived from the Brodatz patterns and their phase-randomized versions was 80–88%, showing that the capacity for a pattern to correctly convey concavities and convexities is independent of phase information and that the amplitude spectrum contains all the information required to determine whether a pattern will convey veridical 3-D shape. A measure of the discrete oriented energy centered on the axis of maximum curvature was successful in identifying textures that convey veridical shape.

© 2001 Optical Society of America

Facilitation of shape-from-shading perception by random textures

Ko Sakai, Kazuki Narushima, and Natsuko Aoki
J. Opt. Soc. Am. A 23(8) 1805-1813 (2006)

Contour into texture: information content of surface contours and texture flow

David C. Knill
J. Opt. Soc. Am. A 18(1) 12-35 (2001)

Characterization of the spatial-frequency spectrum in the perception of shape from texture

Ko Sakai and Leif H. Finkel
J. Opt. Soc. Am. A 12(6) 1208-1224 (1995)

Visual response saturation to orientation contrast in the perception of texture boundary

Isamu Motoyoshi and Shin’ya Nishida
J. Opt. Soc. Am. A 18(9) 2209-2219 (2001)

Three-systems theory of human visual motion perception: review and update

Zhong-Lin Lu and George Sperling
J. Opt. Soc. Am. A 18(9) 2331-2370 (2001)