Limitations on shape information provided by texture cues.

Abstract

This paper uses visual, empirical and formal methods (Li & Zaidi, Vision Research, 40 (2000) 217; Li & Zaidi, Vision Research, 41 (22) (2001a) 2927) to examine the roles of oriented texture components in conveying veridical percepts of concave and convex surfaces that are pitched towards or away from the observer. The results show that pairs of components, oriented symmetrically around the axis of maximum curvature, combine to provide the geodesic orientation modulations that are critical for veridical shape perception. The degree of pitch determines the orientations of the critical pair of components. Perspective is crucial to the veridical perception of concavities and convexities, regardless of the degree of pitch. The results of this paper reconfirm that veridical shape perception depends on extracting critical patterns of oriented energy, but also show that the class of textures capable of conveying veridical percepts of developable shapes in general views is even more restricted than that identified by Li and Zaidi (Journal of Optical Society of America A, 18 (2001b), 2430).