Is Gloss a cue for Real-World Object Size?

TR Number
Date
2020-08-10
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Virginia Tech
Abstract

Two separate lines of research in object recognition are studies of materials perception and studies of real-world object size perception. Recent object size investigations of texture indicate mid-level features may cue representations of object size in the absence of object identity. However, these findings are somewhat controversial, and beyond that what mid-level features cue object size is not clear. Mid-level features have always been the focus of materials perception studies of gloss and specular highlights, but to date no research has been conducted that attempts to link findings on the perception of materials to high-level object features like real-world object size. Three separate experiments were conducted to study the relationship between perceived surface glossiness and specular highlights, and perceived real-world object size. Previous research on the relationship between perceived object size and real-world object size were replicated. A significant two-way interaction between ratings of perceived glossiness, object size, and texture was found. Follow-up analyses indicated that perceptions of gloss were present across categorical differences in real-world object size in both the object image and texture image task groups. For the normal object images, small objects were perceived as being glossier than big objects. For the texture images, big objects were perceived as being glossier than small objects. Between the conditions, small normal and small texture object images were not significantly different in perceived glossiness. Between the conditions, glossiness ratings for big texture object images were significantly greater than those for the normal big object images.

Description
Keywords
visual perception, gloss, real-world size, image statistics, mid-level vision
Citation