title: Is the Kanizsa illusion triggered by the simultaneous contrast mechanism?
abstract: Current illusory contour models do not predict the disappearance of the Kanizsa illusion due to specific spatial luminance distributions within the inducers. We suggest that these stimulus conditions are characterized by an insufficient amount of induced brightness. Our model's core assumption is that contour edge detection of the Kanizsa illusion and the simultaneous contrast (brightness induction) effect are triggered by the same mechanism. The simultaneous contrast can immunize the occlusion detection mechanism against spatial and temporal noise. Our model contains physiologically inspired building blocks that detect the oriented contour edges, complete the illusory contours, and enhance them. The model succeeds in predicting the appearance and the disappearance of many different Kanizsa illusion variants.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomedical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Tel Aviv University, Israel.
authors.forename: Eldar
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Ron
authors.forename: Hedva
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Spitzer
mesh_terms: D000222:Adaptation, Physiological; D007088:Illusions / Q000502:physiology*; D008954:Models, Biological; D010775:Photic Stimulation; D012160:Retina / Q000502:physiology