Distinguishing shadows from surface boundaries using local achromatic cues.

In order to accurately parse the visual scene into distinct surfaces, it is essential to determine whether a local luminance edge is caused by a boundary between two surfaces or a shadow cast across a single surface. Previous studies have demonstrated that local chromatic cues may help to distinguis...

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Main Authors: Christopher DiMattina, Josiah J Burnham, Betul N Guner, Haley B Yerxa
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Public Library of Science (PLoS) 2022-09-01
Series:PLoS Computational Biology
Online Access:https://journals.plos.org/ploscompbiol/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pcbi.1010473&type=printable
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author Christopher DiMattina
Josiah J Burnham
Betul N Guner
Haley B Yerxa
author_facet Christopher DiMattina
Josiah J Burnham
Betul N Guner
Haley B Yerxa
author_sort Christopher DiMattina
collection DOAJ
description In order to accurately parse the visual scene into distinct surfaces, it is essential to determine whether a local luminance edge is caused by a boundary between two surfaces or a shadow cast across a single surface. Previous studies have demonstrated that local chromatic cues may help to distinguish edges caused by shadows from those caused by surface boundaries, but the information potentially available in local achromatic cues like contrast, texture, and penumbral blur remains poorly understood. In this study, we develop and analyze a large database of hand-labeled achromatic shadow edges to better understand what image properties distinguish them from occlusion edges. We find that both the highest contrast as well as the lowest contrast edges are more likely to be occlusions than shadows, extending previous observations based on a more limited image set. We also find that contrast cues alone can reliably distinguish the two edge categories with nearly 70% accuracy at 40x40 resolution. Logistic regression on a Gabor Filter bank (GFB) modeling a population of V1 simple cells separates the categories with nearly 80% accuracy, and furthermore exhibits tuning to penumbral blur. A Filter-Rectify Filter (FRF) style neural network extending the GFB model performed at better than 80% accuracy, and exhibited blur tuning and greater sensitivity to texture differences. We compare human performance on our edge classification task to that of the FRF and GFB models, finding the best human observers attaining the same performance as the machine classifiers. Several analyses demonstrate both classifiers exhibit significant positive correlation with human behavior, although we find a slightly better agreement on an image-by-image basis between human performance and the FRF model than the GFB model, suggesting an important role for texture.
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spelling doaj-art-1ea1bd0df42c488c9a30d77dc9d8f6402025-08-20T03:16:35ZengPublic Library of Science (PLoS)PLoS Computational Biology1553-734X1553-73582022-09-01189e101047310.1371/journal.pcbi.1010473Distinguishing shadows from surface boundaries using local achromatic cues.Christopher DiMattinaJosiah J BurnhamBetul N GunerHaley B YerxaIn order to accurately parse the visual scene into distinct surfaces, it is essential to determine whether a local luminance edge is caused by a boundary between two surfaces or a shadow cast across a single surface. Previous studies have demonstrated that local chromatic cues may help to distinguish edges caused by shadows from those caused by surface boundaries, but the information potentially available in local achromatic cues like contrast, texture, and penumbral blur remains poorly understood. In this study, we develop and analyze a large database of hand-labeled achromatic shadow edges to better understand what image properties distinguish them from occlusion edges. We find that both the highest contrast as well as the lowest contrast edges are more likely to be occlusions than shadows, extending previous observations based on a more limited image set. We also find that contrast cues alone can reliably distinguish the two edge categories with nearly 70% accuracy at 40x40 resolution. Logistic regression on a Gabor Filter bank (GFB) modeling a population of V1 simple cells separates the categories with nearly 80% accuracy, and furthermore exhibits tuning to penumbral blur. A Filter-Rectify Filter (FRF) style neural network extending the GFB model performed at better than 80% accuracy, and exhibited blur tuning and greater sensitivity to texture differences. We compare human performance on our edge classification task to that of the FRF and GFB models, finding the best human observers attaining the same performance as the machine classifiers. Several analyses demonstrate both classifiers exhibit significant positive correlation with human behavior, although we find a slightly better agreement on an image-by-image basis between human performance and the FRF model than the GFB model, suggesting an important role for texture.https://journals.plos.org/ploscompbiol/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pcbi.1010473&type=printable
spellingShingle Christopher DiMattina
Josiah J Burnham
Betul N Guner
Haley B Yerxa
Distinguishing shadows from surface boundaries using local achromatic cues.
PLoS Computational Biology
title Distinguishing shadows from surface boundaries using local achromatic cues.
title_full Distinguishing shadows from surface boundaries using local achromatic cues.
title_fullStr Distinguishing shadows from surface boundaries using local achromatic cues.
title_full_unstemmed Distinguishing shadows from surface boundaries using local achromatic cues.
title_short Distinguishing shadows from surface boundaries using local achromatic cues.
title_sort distinguishing shadows from surface boundaries using local achromatic cues
url https://journals.plos.org/ploscompbiol/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pcbi.1010473&type=printable
work_keys_str_mv AT christopherdimattina distinguishingshadowsfromsurfaceboundariesusinglocalachromaticcues
AT josiahjburnham distinguishingshadowsfromsurfaceboundariesusinglocalachromaticcues
AT betulnguner distinguishingshadowsfromsurfaceboundariesusinglocalachromaticcues
AT haleybyerxa distinguishingshadowsfromsurfaceboundariesusinglocalachromaticcues