A new visual phenomenon--called the AMBEGUJAS phenomenon--is presented, together with some descriptive data from two initial exploratory experiments. The phenomenon is basically one of shape from shading, but ambiguous as to both shape and colour. There are two spontaneously alternating and mutually exclusive perceived 3-D shapes, and--as the most surprising observation--the colour impressions of these two shapes are markedly different. The stimulus situation is very simple with two differently coloured illuminations (with sharp edges) adjacently cast onto a flat, grey striped surface. In one 3-D shape almost the whole chromatic content disappears, and the surface goes towards its veridically grey colour. In the other the perceived object assumes the two illumination colours as clear surface colours. The decolorised percept is interpreted as a striking example of colour constancy: a perceptual solution with the classical 'discounting of the illuminant'. Experiments show that the phenomenon is robust and appears in varying display layouts and different combinations of chromatic illuminations.
The present study concerns the distinctness of the 3-D shape induced on flat displays by spacemodulated illumination ("shape from shading"). The displays that we used varied in structure, hue contrast, lightness contrast, and in the number of reflectance edges present. The modulations of the illumination were a square-wave grating, a gradual modulation (a blurred grating), and an "O'Brien modulation," which combines an edge and a gradient. The displays were compared, using the paired comparison method, as to the distinctness of the perceived 3-D form. The results showed that the structure and chromatic color of the display were important factors facilitating the distinctness of the induced 3-D shape under all the modulation conditions. The results are discussed in relation to the "vector model" for color constancy, proposed in earlier papers.
Flat, rectangular displays consisting of 2, 3, 4, or 6 vertical grey stripes, alternately light and dark gray (NCS 3500 and NCS 6000, respectively) were presented one at a time illuminated by two identical projectors. One projector illuminated the upper half of the display through a yellowish colour filter (Strand Golden Amber), and the other one illuminated the lower half through a bluish colour filter (Kodak Wratten 80 A). The display appeared ambiguous, periodically and spontaneously shifting between two distinct 3-D shape percepts, A and B. Display A appeared vertically folded along the reflectance edges (‘shape from shading’, where the dark fields appeared to be attached shadows). The colours were quite saturated yellow and blue surface colours. There was no colour constancy; Display B appeared horizontally folded along the illumination edge like a roof (‘shape from shading’, where one of the illuminations appeared to be an attached shadow). The display now appeared very desaturated, even achromatic, but in a ‘warm’ illumination. The colour constancy was almost complete. The phenomenon is demonstrated with a slide, and some psychophysical data on the colour desaturation and on the frequency of shifts between the two percepts are reported as well as some observations on combinations of illuminant colours other than yellow and blue. The reported colour constancy phenomenon is discussed in relation to an earlier presented model for the perception of illumination, colour, and depth [S S Bergström, 1994, in Lightness, Brightness, and Transparency Ed. A Gilchrist (Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates)].
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