Advanced methods of perceptual testing

Lecture series - Andrew B. Watson (Apple)

Jaurès, 24 rue Lomond, 75005 Paris
Wed. Nov. 7, 10am-noon : "The windows of visibility: Limits to human vision and their application to visual technology" 
The next three lectures will take place in Room 235B, 24 rue Lhomond, 75005 Paris
Wed. Nov. 14, 10am-noon : "Computational models of early vision"
Wed. Nov. 21, 10am-noon: "Applications of vision models to display engineering"
Wed. Nov. 28, 10am-noon: "Advanced methods of perceptual testing"

We do not see the world as it is, but only a facsimile constructed by our visual sense. In this talk I will explore the many narrow “Windows of Visibility” though which we view the world.  These windows exist in the dimensions of space, time, wavelength, temporal frequency, and spatial frequency. They are implemented by the optical elements of the eye, the visual photopigments, and the neural structures of the retina and visual brain. Though these limitations, the eye reduces the infinitely complex physics of reality to a finite, limited sample of information that our brain can manage. Remarkably, understanding these limitations is also key to designing better visual display technology. I will illustrate this idea with examples from  video compression, display inspection, and high frame-rate movies.