How We Distinguish Reflective And Transparent Objects

Scientists have shown that humans depend on dynamic information processing to identify reflective and transparent materials.

AsianScientist (Jun. 18, 2018) – In a study published in Scientific Reports, scientists in Japan have demonstrated how humans perceive mirror-like and glass-like materials.

Reflective materials such as mirrors and polished metals, and transparent materials such as glass and ice, distort light and produce complex images on their surfaces. Yet, humans are able to recognize and identify these materials for what they are. How we distinguish these surfaces and materials was unknown.

In the present study, researchers at the Toyohashi University of Technology, Japan, hypothesized that humans discriminate between reflective and transparent materials by using dynamic information from those materials as a cue among a vast possible selection of information. Dynamic information is information that changes frequently or gets periodically updated.

The team empirically measured the degree to which people perceive and discriminate between moving objects made of reflective and transparent materials. They showed that when a mirror rotates, humans are only able to perceive dynamic information on the front side of the object. However, when glass rotates, humans can perceive dynamic information at both the front and rear of the object, which informs us that an object is transparent.

The researchers then used these measurements to develop and test a model for discriminating between reflective and transparent materials. The researchers demonstrated that their model correlated closely with human perception and suggested that material perception in humans can be accurately predicted.

“We come across mirrors and glass all the time in our daily lives, but they are actually very peculiar materials in terms of material perception because they do not possess any color and merely distort whatever is around them,” said Professor Shigeki Nakauchi of Toyohashi University of Technology, who led the study.

“We are able to perceive and enjoy mirror-like and glass-like properties and the other various materials in our world by way of dynamic information, which initially seemed unrelated to this perception.”

This research suggests that humans use efficient cues when discriminating between materials. More specifically, humans can apply these cues to estimate or express the material state of an object. The results of this research may be used in material property measurement systems and material reproduction technology.


The article can be found at: Tamura et al. (2018) Dynamic Visual Cues for Differentiating Mirror and Glass.

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Source: Toyohashi University of Technology; Photo: Pexels.
Disclaimer: This article does not necessarily reflect the views of AsianScientist or its staff.

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