Perception - definition

Sensory impressions arise as a result of the

interaction between stimuli in our environment and
our sensory organs
These impressions are transformed into a
representation in our nervous system - a
representation that can then be processed
Perception is our experience of the information
content in this representation
We can compare them with previous experience

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Perception - via our senses

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Vision visual perception

Hearing auditive perception
Smell
Taste
Touch haptic perception

Perception - vision
The visual (iconic) system is extremely
well-developed:

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Strong sunshine to dark night

Still images and fast motion
Long distance, tiny objects
We recognize objects without any effort
We see in 3D, ie, where objects are positioned
in space
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Perception - vision
The eye is constantly moving:
50-100 ms movement, 200 ms fixation,
ie. 3-4 fixations per second
Fixations give the eye time to focus
Movements allow us to discover more of our
environment perhaps we see something we had not
inteded to look at
These movements are called saccadic movements

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The eyes saccadic movements

Note the
fixations and
the saccadic
movements

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Eye cells
cones
black/white
vision

receptors

Light
stimuli

rods
colour
vision
cells attached
to each other
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optic nerve that

goes to the brain
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Vision

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Stimuli distributed between

right and left parts of the eye

The b/w
system:
rods

The eyes three colour systems

2 colour
systems:

Blue-yellow
Red-green
cones

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Ganglia cells that lead to

the optic nerv

Rods and cones

We have 6 m cones (colour) and 100 m rods

The number of rods means that we can see details when it

is light and that we can see in the dark

The cones are most dense in the middle of the retina where
focus is best
There are three types of cones that react to long-, mediumand short-waves (corresponding to red/blue/green), which
means that the eye can create all other colours

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Colours we can distinguish

Electromagnetic radiation in this interval
is converted to colour in the brain

violet
380 400 nm
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blue
480 nm

green
520 nm

red 650 780 nm

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The electromagnetic spectrum

Gamma waves
X-rays
ultraviolet radiation

wavelength

We only
see these
wavelengths

infrared radiation
Micro-waves
radar

radio / TV
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Colour
Colour arises when photo-electric energy
(electromagnetic radiation) of a certain
wavelength is interpreted by the visual centre
Colour is described by three componentes
Hue (frgton) the actual colour is determined by
the wavelength, eg. red or green
Saturation (mtnad) a colour is more or less
saturated if a certain wavelength dominates (is more
intense, has more energy) than other wavelengths in
the stimulus
Brightness (ljusstyrka) how much light is reflected,
general intesity
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Hue (colour) and

Saturation (mtnad)
hue

saturation

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Brightness

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These colours are

brighter than the
ones above

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Colour
We perceive wavelengths between 400 - 700 nm
We can distinguish about 150 different colours
(hues)
ie. We notice a difference of 2 nm!

150 hues * saturation * brightness gives us

7 m colours!
National Bureau of Standards (USA) has registered
500 names for colours
Conclusion: Colour is important for humans

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Names of some colours

Aliceblue, antiquewhite, aqua, aquamarine,
azure, beige, bisque, black, blanchedalmon,
blue, blueviolet, brown, cadetblue, chartreuse,
chocolate, coral, cornflowerblue, crimson,
cyan, darkblue, darkcyan, darksalmon,
deeppink, dimgray, deepskyblue, firebrick,
gainsboro, ghostwhite, honeydew,
lemonchiffon, mistyrose, papayawhip,
peachpuff, saddlebrown, seashell, steelblue,
thistle, whitesmoke
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Colour
All colours can be created using a mixture
of
one long-wavelength component (red)
one medium-wavelength component (green)
one short-wavelength component (blue)

(These are the three colours used in TV- and

computer- screens)

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Colour - difference between

paint and light

Additive
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Subtractive
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Complementary colours
Colours in each colour system are
received by the same receptors

2 colours
that
produce
grey when
mixed
Blue-yellow,
red-green, and
black-white are
complemenary

You can tire the receptors

of a given colour

If you stare at the flag. .

.
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Experiencing colour in context

This strip
is unicoloured

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Colour circle - normal vision

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Colour psychology
Blue and green
are considered
cool colours

Blue and green

can lower pulse
and body
temperature
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Red, orange
and yellow are
considered
warm

In red we secrete more

adrenalin; blood
pressure and breathing
rate increase
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Experiencing colour

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Experiencing colour in context

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Colour and language

(Berlin & Kay, 1969)
green

black
red
white

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blue
yellow

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Perception - vision
Which cognitive processes are active in
visual perception
Knowledge of eye structure, animal
experimentation and computer simulations
show that the following processes are
involved :
template matching
feature recognition
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Perception - vision
template matching
Template matching - stimuli are matched
with predetermined patterns
A detector
cell
stimulus
template:
connected neurons

neurons that match a letter are connected so that

there is one detector cell for each letter
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Perception - template matching

Template matching is data-driven, ie.
stimuli from the environment activate the
receptors
Advantage: immediate perception
Limitation: stimuli must match the template
precisely
hello
AAAA
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Perception - feature recognition

Physical objects have critical features

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Feature recognition
the demon model

Source: Human Information Processing

Lindsay & Norman
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Critical features (example)

Features
A E
Straight lines
Horisontal

M Z

x xxx xx
x

Vertical

xx
xx

Diagonal /

Diagonal \

Symmetry

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You can expect

confusing E och F

x
x
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Feature recognition

Find Z in column 1.
Find Z in column 2.
Which was faster?

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(1)
ODUGQR
QCDUGO
CQOGRD
QUGCDR
URDGQO
GRUQDO
DUZGRO
UCGROD
DQRCGU
QDOCGU

(2)
IVMXEW
EWVMIE
EXWMVI
ITEWNV
VXZEMI
MXVEWI
XVWEFI
MWTVIE
VIMEXW
EXVWIM

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Nerv impulses in
feature recognition

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same neuron
with different
stimuli

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Feature recognition and distractors

Find the
vertical line
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J
J

J
J
J

Find a blue J

J
J
J

J
J

J
J
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J
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Find a blue J

S
J

S J

J
S

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J
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Feature recognition
We just need a
few clues to
be able to
recognize
objects

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Feature recognition

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Visual perception
Limitations of
1. Template matching
Stimulus and template must match well
How many templates do we need?

2. Feature recognition
Easy to express in limited contexts (letters, reular shapes)
In simulations you need to know what features are critical

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Higher cognitive processes in visual

perception constructivist theory
Basic idea: sensory stimuli are not just
received; they are actively processed in the
brain which adds information based on
previous experience.
Sensory stimuli help us see an object; then
we use a neural code to recognize it.

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Constructivist theory
Proof that further construction is performed
by the brain :
The image on the retina is 2-dimensional, but
we experience 3 dimensions
other processes must interpret the neural code
of the retina and create a 3-dimensional image
Gestalt theory has shown that we add
information to see whole objects

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Constructivist theory
Clues that these higher processes use:
Parallel lines seem to converge at a distance

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Constructivist theory
Other clues that higher cognitive proceeses
use in visual perception:

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texture
size
interposition
shadow

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Constructivist theory
texture:
indistinct
information
appears
further away

texture:

Precise
information
appears closer
to the observer
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Constructivist theory
size:
On the
right:
objects
further
away
seem to be
smaller
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Size contributes to depth perception

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Interposition
The little
elephant
covers part of
the middle
elephant and is
experienced as
being closer

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Interposition/distance
The tree is
closer to the
camera than
the building

parallel lines
seem to
converge

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Depth - shadow

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Depth - shadow

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Illusions
Various mechanisms can collide when
viewing contradictory information
Illusions can teach us more about how we
experience our environment
Mller-Lyer illusion

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Illusion and reality

The black line is
the same length
in both pictures

On the right
the line is
experienced
as being
farther away
than the line
on the left

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What is foreground/background?

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Illusion

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Illusions

Same line seems

longer when
vertical
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The rectangle
does not exist
we create it
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Illusion - Kanizsas triangle

We construct
reality

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Perspective
b.
a.

Same tabletop different perspective

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We see a
rectangulr door
even here
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Controlling what you see

Look at the triangles. What

direction do they point in?
Can you influence the
direction?

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Impossible figures
Why are they
impossible?

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Visual perception and interface sdesign

Colour
Visual information
graphs

Text presentation
Visual information
icons

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Perception and interface design - colour

Avoid colour pollution

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oh no!!

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Interfaces and text presentation

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oh-oh!!

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Perception and interface design colour

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yess!

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Interfaces and presentation of

information
Mercedes
Other cars
average

Cost after
5 years
purchase

1 : 2,5
(visually)

costs

$ 42 000
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advert
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$k

Mercedes

Other cars
average

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1 : 1,15

costs

40

20

0
purchase
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after 5 years

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Interfaces and text presentation

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Interfaces and text presentation

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