Surface orientation from texture: isotropy or homogeneity (or both)?

Abstract

We examine two models for human perception of shape from texture, based on two assumptions about the surface texture: isotropy and homogeneity. Observers made orientation judgments on planar textured surfaces. Surface textures were either isotropic or anisotropically stretched or compressed. If subjects used an isotropy assumption, they would make biased orientation estimates for the anisotropic textures. In some conditions some observers showed no bias for the anisotropic textures relative to the isotropic textures. In general, even when the observers showed bias, the biases were significantly less than those predicted if the observer used only deviation from isotropy as a cue. Observers appear to use both the deviation from isotropy and a texture gradient or affine texture distortion cue for shape from texture.