title: Contour interpolation by vector-field combination.
abstract: We model the visual interpolation of missing contours by extending contour fragments under a smoothness constraint. Interpolated trajectories result from an algorithm that computes the vector sum of two fields corresponding to different unification factors: the good continuation (GC) field and the minimal path (MP) field. As the distance from terminators increases, the GC field decreases and the MP field increases. Viewer-independent and viewer-dependent variables modulate GC-MP contrast (i.e., the relative strength of GC and MP maximum vector magnitudes). Viewer-independent variables include the local geometry as well as more global properties such as contour support ratio and shape regularity. Viewer-dependent variables include the retinal gap between contour endpoints and the retinal orientation of their stems. GC-MP contrast is the only free parameter of our field model. In the case of partially occluded angles, interpolated trajectories become flatter as GC-MP contrast decreases. Once GC-MP contrast is set to a specific value, derived from empirical measures on a given configuration, the model predicts all interpolation trajectories corresponding to different types of occlusion of the same angle. Model predictions fit psychophysical data on the effects of viewer-independent and viewer-dependent variables.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, BRAIN Center for Neuroscience, University of Trieste, Trieste, Italy. fantoni@psico.units.it
authors.forename: Carlo
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Fantoni
authors.forename: Walter
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Gerbino
mesh_terms: D000465:Algorithms; D005556:Form Perception / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D016014:Linear Models; D008959:Models, Neurological