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Can visual perception be used to estimate body part angles?

For two decades, observational methods have been used to measure postural loads in industry. These methods depend on the analyst's judgment to characterize correctly the working postures. The errors associated with estimating the body part's angular deviation from the neutral position are not known. Recently, videotaping of a work situation, followed by examination of the tape to assess postural position has become more commonly practised. This study was conducted to determine the error which accompanies the judging (without tools) of postural angles. In the present study, a method was used whereby 20 subjects were asked to report the perceived angles which closely matched the actual shoulder flexion angle displayed on the TV screen. The results showed no significant differences among the three angular ranges ('low', 1-60 degrees; 'medium', 61-120 degrees; and 'high', 121-180 degrees) of shoulder flexion, in terms of algebraic and absolute errors. Subjects tended to slightly overestimate the true angle in the low range and to slightly underestimate the true angle in the medium and high angle ranges. This study suggests that visual perception can be used to estimate shoulder flexion angles displayed on a VDT.

Adult↗

Age-related differences in visual perception: a PET study.

To assess age-related differences in cortical activation during form perception, two classes of visual textures were shown to young and older subjects undergoing positron emission tomography (PET). Subjects viewed even textures that were rich in rectangular blocks and extended contours and random textures that lacked these organized form elements. Within-group significant increases in regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF) during even stimulation relative to random stimulation in young subjects were seen in occipital, inferior and medial temporal regions, and cerebellum, and in older subjects, in posterior occipital and frontal regions. Group by texture type interactions revealed significantly smaller rCBF increases in older subjects relative to young in occipital and medial temporal regions. These results indicate that young subjects activate the occipitotemporal pathway during form perception, whereas older subjects activate occipital and frontal regions. The between-group differences suggest that age-related reorganization of cortical activation occur during early visual processes in humans.

Adult↗

Ordinal structure in the visual perception and cognition of smoothly curved surfaces.

In theoretical analyses of visual form perception, it is often assumed that the 3-dimensional structures of smoothly curved surfaces are perceptually represented as point-by-point mappings of metric depth and/or orientation relative to the observer. This article describes an alternative theory in which it is argued that our visual knowledge of smoothly curved surfaces can also be defined in terms of local, nonmetric order relations. A fundamental prediction of this analysis is that relative depth judgments between any two surface regions should be dramatically influenced by monotonicity of depth change (or lack of it) along the intervening portions of the surface through which they are separated. This prediction is confirmed in a series of experiments using surfaces depicted with either shading or texture. Additional experiments are reported, moreover, that demonstrate that smooth occlusion contours are a primary source of information about the ordinal structure of a surface and that the depth extrema in between contours can be optically specified by differences in luminance at the points of occlusion.

Cognition↗

A stochastic model of multistable visual perception.

Multistability in vision is an intriguing phenomenon that is currently not well understood. In this paper, we present a new, stochastic model for multistable visual perception. It is based on results of time series analysis of experimental data, yielding evidence for it being a linear, stochastic process. This is the outcome of testing for unstable periodic orbits and comparing the correlation dimension of the data to that of white noise. In the model, all degrees of freedom but one can be determined by general knowledge, thus resulting in a high degree of parsimony. The remaining parameter is used to model the individual characteristics that vary between subjects. Fitting simulations to the experimental data proves the parameter to be in a physiologically highly plausible range.

Depth Perception↗

Visual perception and the guidance of locomotion without vision to previously seen targets.

Two experiments were performed to assess the accuracy and precision with which adults perceive absolute egocentric distances to visible targets and coordinate their actions with them when walking without vision. In experiment 1 subjects stood in a large open field and attempted to judge the midpoint of self-to-target distances of between 4 and 24 m. In experiment 2 both highly practiced and unpracticed subjects stood in the same open field, viewed the same targets, and attempted to walk to them without vision or other environmental feedback under three conditions designed to assess the effects on accuracy of time-based memory decay and of walking at an unusually rapid pace. In experiment 1 the visual judgments were quite accurate and showed no systematic constant error. The small variable errors were linearly related to target distance. In experiment 2 the briskly paced walks were accurate, showing no systematic constant error, and the small, variable errors were a linear function of target distance and averaged about 8% of the target distance. Unlike Thomson's (1983) findings, there was not an abrupt increase in variable error at around 9 m, and no significant time-based effects were observed. The results demonstrate the accuracy of people's visual perception of absolute egocentric distances out to 24 m under open field conditions. The accuracy of people's walking without vision to previously seen targets shows that efferent and proprioceptive information about locomotion is closely calibrated to visually perceived distance. Sensitivity to the correlation of optical flow with efferent/proprioceptive information while walking with vision may provide the basis for this calibration when walking without vision.

Adult↗

Attention and visual perception.

Somewhere between the retina and our conscious visual experience, the majority of the information impinging on the eye is lost. We are typically aware of only either the most salient parts of a visual scene or the parts that we are actively paying attention to. Recent research on visual neurons in monkeys is beginning to show how the brain both selects and discards incoming visual information. For example, what happens to the responses of visual neurons when attention is directed to one element, such as an oriented colored bar, embedded among an array of other oriented bars? Some of this research shows that attention to the oriented bar restricts the receptive field of visual neurons down to this single element. However, other research shows that attention to this single element affects the responses of neurons with receptive fields throughout the visual field. In this review, these two seemingly contradictory results are shown to actually be mutually consistent. A simple computational model is described that explains these results, and also provides a framework for predicting a variety of additional neurophysiological, neuroimaging and behavioral studies of attention.

Animals↗

Visual perception of collinearity.

In a metrical space, there exists an intimate relation between collinearity and parallelity. In particular, in a Riemannian space collinearity is just a special case of parallelity. Is this true for visual space as well? We investigated the visual perception of collinearity by having subjects align two bars in the horizontal plane at eye height. The distances of the bars from the subject and the angles at which they were placed were varied. We found deviations of up to 22 degrees. The deviations of the left and right bars could be split into two independent components: namely, the sum and the difference of the deviations of the left and right bars. We found that the former depended only on the ratio between the distances of each bar from the subject, whereas the latter was largely independent of the positions of the bars. The difference in deviations corresponded to the deviation from parallelity. Compared with the results in the parallelity task (Cuijpers, Kappers, & Koenderink, 2000b), the deviations from parallel were much smaller. As a consequence, the results of the two experiments cannot be described by the same Riemannian geometry. This indicates that the intrinsic geometry of visual space differs across tasks. This is conceivable if the intrinsic geometry of visual space is operationally defined.

Adult↗

Auditory-visual perception of speech with reduced optical clarity.

Optical cues for visual and auditory-visual (A-V) perception of speech were varied by placing a sheet of rough-surfaced Plexiglas between talker and lipreader and systematically changing the distance between Plexiglas and talker. This distorts the optical environment in a way that is analogous to masking or filtering in the acoustic domain. In studies with normal-hearing adults and with hearing-impaired children, speech (words, sentences) was presented live under different degrees of optical distortion, and observers attempted to identify the stimuli. Visual-along (lipreading) scores dropped abruptly to the chance level as Plexiglas distance (blurring) was increased. A-V scores were relatively high for clear conditions but diminished gradually as Plexiglas distance (blurring) was increased. Under extremely poor optical conditions, A-V scores reached a plateau. This represents essentially auditory perception without meaningful optical cues for speech. Results parallel those of previous acoustic studies that compared auditory with A-V perception of speech as a function of S/N ratio or sensation level, demonstrating a reciprocal aspect of optical and acoustic cues for speech perception. Optical distortion seems to have potential as an auditory training technique to shift attention of hearing-impaired observers to non-dominant acoustic cues during A-V perception of speech.

Adolescent↗

Analysis of induced gamma-band activity in EEG during visual perception of Korean, English, Chinese words.

The oscillation of brain activities in the gamma-band is known to be a manifestation of the formation of neuronal assemblies that jointly constitute neural correlates of feature binding and conscious awareness. Visual word perception is a task that demands a considerable amount of cognitive resources and integration of information from multiple functionally connected neuronal circuits at various scales. Thus, it is anticipated that a substantial increase in gamma-band activity (GBA) would be observed during visual word perception. The purpose of this study was to examine whether meaningful increases in GBA occur during visual word perception and to explore similarities and differences in the amount and spatiotemporal GBA patterns while native Korean subjects perceive Korean, English, and Chinese words. We also aimed at identifying relationships between GBA increase and a behavioral measure such as response time. The results of power spectrum and time-frequency analyses showed that the increases in GBA were most significant in the prefrontal, frontal, and temporal sites, which are known to be relevant to visual word perception. The GBAs in the prefrontal and temporal sites were significantly correlated with response time. The differences in spatiotemporal patterns of GBA among languages were not prominent compared to inter-individual differences.

Adult↗

The influence of established and new antiepileptic drugs on visual perception. II. A controlled study in patients with epilepsy under long-term antiepileptic medication.

In this study, we investigated visual performance under chronic antiepileptic drug treatment. Patients were under carbamazepine (CBZ) (n = 18), valproic acid (VPA) (n = 9), CBZ and vigabatrin (VGB) (n = 4), CBZ and gabapentin (GBP) (n = 8), and under CBZ and topiramate (TPR) (n = 6), respectively. Seven untreated patients with epilepsy and 42 healthy volunteers served as controls. The test battery comprised the Lanthony-D15-désaturé colour perception test, increment, postadaptation and transient tritanopia (TT) threshold measurements, visual perception threshold assessments for monochromatic and chromatic gratings and gaussian dots, and critical flicker fusion (CFF) tests. No differences were seen between naive patients and healthy controls. Patients under drug treatment always showed alterations of visual perception. Postadaptation and TT thresholds were altered under each drug regimen after short delays between switching off the adaptation light and switching on the blue test light. Threshold elevations were maximum under the combination of CBZ and TPR and lowest under CBZ and GBP. Consistent impairment of the CFF was seen under combined CBZ and TPR whereas VPA as well as combined CBZ and VGB led to ameliorations the mechanisms of which are discussed. The other tests were less sensitive. In conclusion, alterations of visual function were apparent under chronic antiepileptic drug treatment both with established and new agents. However, it may be difficult to distinguish between effects based on specific modes of action and nonspecific retino- and neurotoxicity.

Adaptation, Ocular↗

Visual Displays and Visual Perception in Minimal Access Surgery.

Visual perceptual processing underlies safe execution of endoscopic surgery. This review deals with the limitations of the present visual display technology used in endoscopic surgery with reference to the normal direct stereoscopic vision and pints to the research and development needed in this important technological and psychomotor aspect of endoscopic surgery. Eyeball movements (saccadic and smooth pursuit), visual cues (stereoscopic and monoscopic), accommodation, individual visual attributes, and the display technology itself are all important. Monocular depth cues are degraded by the cureent display systems, and technological advances in this are will improve perceptual processing and reduce both fatigue and human error during endoscopic interventions. Depth perception can be improved by alternative techniques to three-dimensional imaging such as the VISTRAL system and the Suspended Image System based on projection of image by parabolic mirrors and advanced beam spitter technology.

Journal Article↗