Processing visual ambiguity in fractal patterns: Pareidolia as a sign of creativity

Creativity is a complex, multifaceted and highly valued quality. Characterizing creativity experimentally is a challenging endeavor. While most studies to date have focused on divergent thinking, emerging work also points to an intricate link between creativity and perceptual abilities. Here, we hypothesized that differences in high- and low-creative individuals are already present at the level of sensory perception, specifically in the ability to perceive recognizable forms in noisy or ambiguous stimuli, a phenomenon called pareidolia. To test this, we designed a visual perception task in which 50 participants, with various levels of creativity, were presented with ambiguous stimuli and asked to identify as many recognizable forms as possible. A key manipulation consisted in generating cloud-like images where we manipulated the level of complexity by manipulating fractal dimension (FD) and contrast level. We found that pareidolic perceptions arise more often and more rapidly in creative individuals. Interestingly, less creative individuals have a narrower range of FD values that support the emergence of pareidolia. Our results show that FD and contrast are key visual properties to manipulate when investigating pareidolic perception and its putative link to creativity. They also suggest that pareidolia may be used as a perceptual proxy of idea generation abilities, a prerequisite for creative behavior. In sum, we extend the established body of work on divergent thinking, by introducing divergent perception as a complementary manifestation of the creative mind. Therefore, these findings expand our understanding of the perception-creation link and open new paths in studying creative behavior in humans.

Hyperspectral imaging for the elimination of visual ambiguity in corrosion detection and identification of corrosion sources

The similarity in the hue of corroded surfaces and coated surfaces, dust, vegetation, etc. leads to visual ambiguity which is challenging to eliminate using existing image classification/segmentation techniques. Furthermore, existing methods lack the ability to identify the source of corrosion, which plays a vital role in framing the corrosion mitigation strategies. The goal of this study to employ hyperspectral imaging (1) to detect corroded surfaces under visually ambiguous scenarios and (2) identify the source of corrosion in such scenarios. To this end, three different corrosive media, namely, (1) 1M hydrochloric acid (HCl), 2) 3.5 wt.% sodium chloride solution (NaCl), and (3) 3 wt.% sodium sulfate solution (Na2SO4), are employed to generate chemically distinctive corroded surfaces. The hyperspectral imaging sensor is employed to obtain the visible and near infrared (VNIR) spectra (397 nm–1004 nm) reflected by the corroded/coated surfaces. The intensity of the reflectance in various spectral bands are considered as the descriptive features in this study, and the training and test datasets were generated consisting of 35,000 and 15,000 data points, respectively. SVM classifier is trained and then its efficacy on the test data is assessed. Furthermore, validation datasets are employed and the generalization ability of the trained SVM classifier is verified. The results from this study revealed that the SVM classifier achieved an overall accuracy of 94% with the misclassifications of 18% and 13% in the case of NaCl and Na2SO4 corrosion, respectively. Reflectance spectra obtained in the VNIR region was found to eliminate the visual ambiguity between the corroded and coated surfaces and, identify the source of corrosion accurately. Further, the range of key wavelengths of the spectra that play an important role in the distinguishability of coating and chemically distinctive corroded surface were identified to be 500–520 nm, 660–680 nm, 760–770 nm, and 830–850 nm.

What do we see when we look at networks: Visual network analysis, relational ambiguity, and force-directed layouts

It is increasingly common in natural and social sciences to rely on network visualizations to explore relational datasets and illustrate findings. Such practices have been around long enough to prove that scholars find it useful to project networks in a two-dimensional space and to use their visual qualities as proxies for their topological features. Yet these practices remain based on intuition, and the foundations and limits of this type of exploration are still implicit. To fill this lack of formalization, this paper offers explicit documentation for the kind of visual network analysis encouraged by force-directed layouts. Using the example of a network of Jazz performers, band and record labels extracted from Wikipedia, the paper provides guidelines on how to make networks readable and how to interpret their visual features. It discusses how the inherent ambiguity of network visualizations can be exploited for exploratory data analysis. Acknowledging that vagueness is a feature of many relational datasets in the humanities and social sciences, the paper contends that visual ambiguity, if properly interpreted, can be an asset for the analysis. Finally, we propose two attempts to distinguish the ambiguity inherited from the represented phenomenon from the distortions coming from fitting a multidimensional object in a two-dimensional space. We discuss why these attempts are only partially successful, and we propose further steps towards a metric of spatialization quality.

Dynamic Hybrid Graph Matching for Unsupervised Video-based Person Re-identification

Taking videos as nodes in a graph, graph matching is an effective technique for unsupervised video-based person re-identification (re-ID). However, most of existing methods are sensitive to noisy training data and mainly only focus on visual content relations between query and gallery videos, which may introduce large amount of false positives. To enhance the robustness to training data and alleviate the visual ambiguity, a Dynamic Hybrid Graph Matching (DHGM) method is proposed, which jointly considers both content and context information for person re-ID in an iterative manner. The content relations between video nodes are obtained by metric learning, based on which the context relation is acquired by encoding the bidirectional feature of each probe node relative to its graph neighbors. The model is iteratively updated during the process of graph construction for promoted distance measurement and further better matching performance. Experimental results on the PRID 2011 and iLIDS-VID datasets demonstrate the superiority of the DHGM.

Military techno-vision: Technologies between visual ambiguity and the desire for security facts

Military applications of technologies for enhancing or producing vision play a key role in composing contemporary security, as such technologies are deployed to make security sense of everyday sociality, of battlefields, and of much in between these extremes. In this article, I set out to recompose militarised techno-vision through the public detritus left by its heterogenous development, use, and appropriation. I argue that as an heterogenous and amalgamated object, military techno-vision can be composed by speaking the stories of its leftovers, and that this composition is characterised by and in turn characterises a longstanding dilemma between fact and vision – between the ambiguity that is constitutive of the human practices of visual perception and image-making, and the desire for machines that can produce visual ‘actionable intelligence’ that can underpin security decisions. Discourses, practices, and regimes of visibility are deployed alongside technologies to occlude the ambiguity of technological vision and sustain the imaginary of technologically altered vision as neutral production of military or security facts.

Effects of Multimodal Association on Ambiguous Perception in Binocular Rivalry

When two eyes view dissimilar images, an observer typically reports ambiguous perception called binocular rivalry where the subjective perception fluctuates between the two inputs. This perceptual instability is often comprised of exclusive dominance of each image and a transition state called piecemeal state where the two images are intermingled in patchwork manner. Herein, we investigated the effects of multimodal association of sensory congruent pair, arbitrary pair, and reverse pair on piecemeal state in order to see how each level of association affects the ambiguous perception during binocular rivalry. To induce the multisensory associations, we designed a matching task with audiovisual feedback where subjects were required to respond according to given pairing rules. We found that explicit audiovisual associations can substantially affect the piecemeal state during binocular rivalry and that this congruency effect that reduces the amount of visual ambiguity originates primarily from explicit audiovisual association training rather than common sensory features. Furthermore, when one information is associated with multiple information, recent and preexisting associations work collectively to influence the perceptual ambiguity during rivalry. Our findings show that learned multimodal association directly affects the temporal dynamics of ambiguous perception during binocular rivalry by modulating not only the exclusive dominance but also the piecemeal state in a systematic manner.

Spinning the Zoetrope

Over the last decade, Dominican American Hollywood actress Zoe Saldaña has graced countless magazine covers and starred in numerous blockbuster films viewed worldwide. Her mixed-race body and her ability to visually represent both black and Latina identity have had broad appeal in the global marketplace. This transnational feminist cultural studies analysis of Saldaña as text argues that narratives of her racial identity as Dominican and her resulting racial malleability allow viewers to project a wide range of racialized fantasies onto her Afro-Latina body. It proposes that the fact that Saldaña’s blackness is in flux, depending on where she is read and whether she is read by US or Dominican racial logics, makes her that much more provocative to viewers. Ethnographic notes on her reception in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, illustrate the shifting significance of her identity as her image crosses borders. Examinations of Saldaña in print advertising, on Calvin Klein’s interactive website, and in the films Avatar (2009) and The Losers (2010) reveal how her racialized femininity can be mobilized as well as customized for viewers as they choose how to interpret her racial meaning. Saldaña’s visual ambiguity in black-and-white advertising has now been transformed into the ambiguity of exoticized nonhuman species and performed under blue and green makeup. Nevertheless, narratives about her identity that viewers carry shape how she is read and desired, even as an alien from an intergalactic future. RESUMEN Durante la última década, la actriz de Hollywood Zoe Saldaña, dominicano-estadounidense, ha aparecido en innumerables portadas de revistas y ha protagonizado numerosas películas de gran éxito vistas en todo el mundo. Según se ha visto, su cuerpo de raza mixta y su capacidad de representar visualmente tanto la identidad negra como la latina tienen un gran atractivo en el mercado global. En el presente análisis de Saldaña como texto, que se fundamenta teóricamente en el feminismo transnacional y los estudios culturales, sostengo que las narrativas de la identidad racial de Saldaña como dominicana, y su resultante maleabilidad racial, permiten al público proyectar una gran variedad de fantasías racializadas sobre su cuerpo afrolatino. Sostengo que el hecho de que la negritud de Saldaña sea de difícil definición la hace tanto más provocativa para el público espectador, ya que depende de dónde la lean y de si la leen las lógicas raciales estadounidenses o dominicanas. Algunas notas etnográficas sobre su recepción en Santo Domingo, República Dominicana, constituyen un ejemplo de cómo cambia su identidad cuando su imagen cruza fronteras. Los análisis de Saldaña en publicidad impresa, en el sitio web interactivo de Calvin Klein y en las películas Avatar (2009) y The Losers (2010) revelan las maneras en que su feminidad racializada puede ser aprovechada y personalizada para un público que decide cómo va a interpretarla en términos raciales. La ambigüedad visual de Saldaña en la publicidad en blanco y negro ahora ha sido transformada en la ambigüedad de especies exóticas no humanas, y ha sido puesta en escena con maquillaje azul y verde. Sin embargo, las ideas preconcebidas que tiene el público sobre su identidad condicionan la manera en que se la lee y se la desea, incluso cuando hace el papel de alienígena de un futuro intergaláctico. RESUMO Na última década, a atriz domínico-americana Zoe Saldaña apareceu na capa de inúmeras revistas e estrelou muitos filmes de sucesso exibidos em todo o mundo. Seu corpo mestiço e sua habilidade de visualmente representar a identidade tanto latina quanto negra demonstraram ter amplo apelo no mercado global. Nesta análise – proveniente dos estudos culturais transnacionais feministas – de Saldaña como texto, eu argumento que as narrativas de sua identidade racial como dominicana e sua resultante maleabilidade racial permitem que espectadores projetem um amplo espectro de fantasias racializadas sobre o seu corpo afro-latino. Eu argumento que o fato de a negritude de Saldaña estar em fluxo, dependendo de onde ela é lida e se ela é lida por lógicas raciais americanas ou dominicanas, a torna tanto mais provocativa aos espectadores. Anotações etnográficas sobre sua recepção em Santo Domingo, na República Dominicana, ilustram a mudança de significado de sua identidade à medida que sua imagem cruza as fronteiras. Averiguação sobre Saldaña em publicidade impressa, no site interativo da Calvin Klein e nos filmes Avatar (2009) e Os Perdedores (2010), revelam os modos pelos quais sua feminilidade racializada pode ser mobilizada, assim como customizada, por espectadores ao passo que eles escolhem como interpretar seu significado racial. A ambiguidade visual de Saldaña na publicidade em preto e branco é agora transformada na ambiguidade de um espécie não-humana exoticizada e performada sob maquiagem azul e verde. No entanto, narrativas sobre sua identidade que o espectador carrega informam como ela está sendo lida e desejada, mesmo como uma alienígena do futuro intergaláctico.

Thereby Hangs a Tail: Jonson’s The Devil Is an Ass and Stage Representations of Devil-Servants

This article considers an ambiguity concerning the stage presentation of Pug, the inept devil-servant of Ben Jonson’s The Devil Is an Ass, and explores the implications that ‘complete’ or ‘partial’ costume changes have for how an audience interprets the character, and how this apparent visual ambiguity may have been resolved by cosmetics and/or through the performance of a specific King’s Men actor. The article concludes with a comparison of ‘devilish servant-types’ in Othello and The Changeling and argues that these three plays articulate early modern insecurities about the servant through an explicit association between the servile and the demonic.