Geoff Loftus, Kennet Belenky, and Dario Cvencek: Visual Perception and Spatial F

Abstract

Although not generally apparent when viewing it, any visual scene can be decomposed into different spatial-frequency components. Roughly speaking, low spatial frequencies correspond to large “blobby” parts of the scene, while high spatial frequencies correspond to edges and details. Various visual processes can be understood in terms of how they are coordinated with these different spatial-frequency components.


The three of us are planning a sequence of four 555 talks that will describe in more detail what spatial frequencies are all about and will discuss some of the visual information-processing activities that are relevant to them. We will try to keep these talks informal and will emphasize understanding rather than scope.


In the first two weeks, Geoff will introduce spatial frequencies, will give examples (some quite entertaining) of spatial frequencies, and will illustrate how they’ve been used in his lab over the past few years in two specific projects to address two specific problems, one mostly theoretical and the other mostly practical. In the second two weeks, Geoff will finish up with whatever he hadn’t finished in the first two weeks and then Kennet and Dario will describe some new, related projects on the topic.