An image-computable model of how endogenous and exogenous attention differentially alter visual perception

Attention alters perception across the visual field. Typically, endogenous (voluntary) and exogenous (involuntary) attention similarly improve performance in many visual tasks, but they have differential effects in some tasks. Extant models of visual attention assume that the effects of these two types of attention are identical and consequently do not explain differences between them. Here, we develop a model of spatial resolution and attention that distinguishes between endogenous and exogenous attention. We focus on texture-based segmentation as a model system because it has revealed a clear dissociation between both attention types. For a texture for which performance peaks at parafoveal locations, endogenous attention improves performance across eccentricity, whereas exogenous attention improves performance where the resolution is low (peripheral locations) but impairs it where the resolution is high (foveal locations) for the scale of the texture. Our model emulates sensory encoding to segment figures from their background and predict behavioral performance. To explain attentional effects, endogenous and exogenous attention require separate operating regimes across visual detail (spatial frequency). Our model reproduces behavioral performance across several experiments and simultaneously resolves three unexplained phenomena: 1) the parafoveal advantage in segmentation, 2) the uniform improvements across eccentricity by endogenous attention, and 3) the peripheral improvements and foveal impairments by exogenous attention. Overall, we unveil a computational dissociation between each attention type and provide a generalizable framework for predicting their effects on perception across the visual field.

A Re-examination of Dichoptic Tone Mapping

Dichoptic tone mapping methods aim to leverage stereoscopic displays to increase visual detail and contrast in images and videos. These methods, which have been called both binocular tone mapping and dichoptic contrast enhancement , selectively emphasize contrast differently in the two eyes’ views. The visual system integrates these contrast differences into a unified percept, which is theorized to contain more contrast overall than each eye’s view on its own. As stereoscopic displays become increasingly common for augmented and virtual reality (AR/VR), dichoptic tone mapping is an appealing technique for imaging pipelines. We sought to examine whether a standard photographic technique, exposure bracketing, could be modified to enhance contrast similarly to dichoptic tone mapping. While assessing the efficacy of this technique with user studies, we also re-evaluated existing dichoptic tone mapping methods. Across several user studies; however, we did not find evidence that either dichoptic tone mapping or dichoptic exposures consistently increased subjective image preferences. We also did not observe improvements in subjective or objective measures of detail visibility. We did find evidence that dichoptic methods enhanced subjective 3D impressions. Here, we present these results and evaluate the potential contributions and current limitations of dichoptic methods for applications in stereoscopic displays.

Alternative female and male developmental strategies in the dynamic balance of human visual perception

Choosing between alternatives is the stuff of everyday life. Many choices require trades between competing objectives, such as between capitalizing on past experience (‘exploitation’) and updating this experience (‘exploration’). In visual perception, where speed is important, there are tensions between stability of appearance, sensitivity to visual detail, and exploration of fundamental alternatives. Presumably, a ‘sweet spot’ balancing these objectives attains the highest degree of adaptive function. Here, we employ a no-report binocular rivalry paradigm combined with stochastic dynamic modeling to estimate how the visual system balances the objectives of stability, sensitivity, and exploration through-out the lifespan. Observed and simulated results reveal characteristic age- and sex-specific developmental and maturational lifespan trajectories that quantify important aspects of our neurocognitive phenotype. As we also reveal aspects of atypical development underlying mental health disorders, our cognitive modeling may inspire the field of developmental computational psychiatry, in addition to developmental and evolutionary cognitive neuroscience.

Inspeksi Kondisi dan Penanganan Jembatan di Pulau Nias Provinsi Sumatera Utara dengan Metode Bridge Management System

Suatu pemeliharaan jembatan didahului adanya kegiatan inspeksi kondisi dengan dilakukan penilaian terhadap kondisi jembatan di lapangan berdasarkan pada standar acuan dari Bridge Management System 1993. Pada penelitian ini dilakukan pada 10 jembatan di pulau Nias provinsi Sumatera Utara yang merupakan ruas jalan nasional. Dengan melakukan penilaian kondisi jembatan berdasarkan tata cara pemeriksaan kondisi jembatan secara visual detail, dengan menggunakan formulir pemeriksaan jembatan. Pemeriksaan visual detail kondisi jembatan meliputi bangunan atas, bangunan bawah, bangunan pelengkap, dan daerah aliran sungai. Pencatatan khusus meliputi kode elemen, jenis kerusakan, dan dilengkapi foto, sketsa kerusakan beserta lokasi kerusakannya, dan jumlah volume kerusakannya. Tujuan dari penelitian ini adalah untuk mengevaluasi kondisi jembatan dan untuk mendapatkan tindakan perbaikan atau penanganan yang tepat. Nilai kondisi dari 10 jembatan menggunakan standar BMS yaitu: 1 jembatan = 5 (runtuh), 5 jembatan = 4 (kritis), 2 jembatan = 3 (rusak berat), 1 jembatan = 2 (rusak ringan), 1 jembatan = 1 (baik). Karena metode yang digunakan pada inspeksi kondisi jembatan secara visual maka perlunya dilakukan pemeriksaan lebih lanjut setelah dilakukan pemeriksaan dan penilaian kondisi jembatan agar dapat mengetahui kerusakan pada komponen bagian dalam jembatan

Visual Art

Visual art shows the ancient interest in motion palpably, and helps in perceiving both differences between depictions in art and literature and aspects they have in common. Mostly well-known works of art are chosen for detailed discussion. A Corinthian arbyallos shows leaping in a dance as an action admired in itself; a Boeotian skyphos gives a dynamic picture of Odysseus blown by the wind. The stele of Dexileos presents a moment of motion just before a decisive event, as does a wall-painting of Pentheus. Still further back before events come the discus-thrower (Discobolus) and a painting of Medea. A wall-painting of Hades and Persephone and Exekias’ vase-painting of Dionysus show gods in motion at the start and in the sequel of events. Artistic depictions exploit space, visual detail, and the regularity of motion; the viewer’s knowledge is important, as in literature. Lessing misguidedly thinks that literature is more suited to depicting motion; literature can do more with time, but less with physical detail and space. The contribution of the reader’s or listener’s imagination does not reduce the significance of described motion, any more than the contribution of the viewer reduces the significance of depicted thought. Part of literature’s interest in art is an interest in motion, as in ekphrasis or Pindar. Art and literature together show important variables (like speed), oppositions (as between individual and a group), structures (as of male and female). In literature, language is important to what motion arrests attention.

Adapting a Haptic Motor-Skill Simulator to Include 3D Histology and Supporting Information Architecture (IA)

In response to an ever-increasing demand for more efficient medical and dental training, simulator-based education has seen a marked increase in development and adoption. But technological advances do not necessarily add up to better learning outcomes. This pursuit has even generated criticism that the means often lose sight of the end. We are presented with an increasingly relevant challenge to adapt simulator technology in alignment with systems advancements and research in adult learning.To address this question, an existing haptic-based, periodontal-probing simulator was revised with expanded learning goals in mind. The former technology was used, but furnished with new 3D models and a multimodal approach to the curriculum intended to foster contextual learning.The 3D model was detailed with clinically-relevant histology intended to build a holistic conceptual understanding of the oral tissue and disease etiology of gingivitis and periodontitis in context with the procedure. Yet providing visual detail without direction is inadequate for ensuring learning objectives are met. Furthermore, simplified models are needed in a haptic system to maintain uninterrupted simulator performance; this means a loss of visual detail and material realism. To meet these challenges, the information architecture (IA) was designed to include tiered activities including dynamic exploration with a high-fidelity model, performance evaluation for self-assessment, and knowledge check for learning reinforcement.The 3D models and proposed methodology in this research are intended to exhibit how, with proper integration, these attributes can convert a single-objective, motor skill exercise into a complete learning experience.

Visual Detail Augmented Mapping for Small Aerial Target Detection

Moving target detection plays a primary and pivotal role in avionics visual analysis, which aims to completely and accurately detect moving objects from complex backgrounds. However, due to the relatively small sizes of targets in aerial video, many deep networks that achieve success in normal size object detection are usually accompanied by a high rate of false alarms and missed detections. To address this problem, we propose a novel visual detail augmented mapping approach for small aerial target detection. Concretely, we first present a multi-cue foreground segmentation algorithm including motion and grayscale information to extract potential regions. Then, based on the visual detail augmented mapping approach, the regions that might contain moving targets are magnified to multi-resolution to obtain detailed target information and rearranged into new foreground space for visual enhancement. Thus, original small targets are mapped to a more efficient foreground augmented map which is favorable for accurate detection. Finally, driven by the success of deep detection network, small moving targets can be well detected from aerial video. Experiments extensively demonstrate that the proposed method achieves success in small aerial target detection without changing the structure of the deep network. In addition, compared with the-state-of-art object detection algorithms, it performs favorably with high efficiency and robustness.

Scene layout priming relies primarily on low-level features rather than scene layout

The ability to perceive and remember the spatial layout of a scene is critical to understanding the visual world, both for navigation and for other complex tasks that depend upon the structure of the current environment. However, surprisingly little work has investigated how and when scene layout information is maintained in memory. One prominent line of work investigating this issue is a scene priming paradigm (e.g., Sanocki & Epstein, 1997), in which different types of previews are presented to participants shortly before they judge which of two regions of a scene is closer in depth to the viewer. Experiments using this paradigm have been widely cited as evidence that scene layout information is stored across brief delays and have been used to investigate the structure of the representations underlying memory for scene layout. In the present experiments, we better characterize these scene priming effects. We find that a large amount of visual detail rather than the presence of depth information is necessary for the priming effect; that participants show a preview benefit for a judgment completely unrelated to the scene itself; and that preview benefits are susceptible to masking and quickly decay. Together, these results suggest that “scene priming” effects do not isolate scene layout information in memory, and that they may arise from low-level visual information held in sensory memory. This broadens the range of interpretations of scene priming effects and suggests that other paradigms may need to be developed to selectively investigate how we represent scene layout information in memory.

Detailed Visual Memory Capacity Is Present Early in Childhood

Previous studies have shown that adults are able to remember more than 1,000 images with great detail. However, little is known about the development of this visual capacity, nor its presence early in life. This study tests the level of detail of young children’s memory for a large number of items, adapting the method of Brady, Konkle, Alvarez, and Oliva ( 2008 ). Four- and six-year-old children were shown more than 100 images of everyday objects. They were then tested for recognition of familiar items in a binary decision task. The identity of the foil test item was manipulated in three conditions (Category, Exemplar, and State). Children demonstrated high accuracy across all conditions, remembering not only the basic-level category (Category), but also unique details (Exemplar), and information about position and arrangement of parts (State). These findings demonstrate that children spontaneously encode a high degree of visual detail. Early in life, visual memory exhibits high fidelity and extends over a large set of items.