Color and Material Perception: Investigating the Role of Color in Glossiness and Translucency Judgements

Abstract: The image features that contribute to material perception, such as glossiness and translucency, have been extensively studied in recent years. Previous research has primarily focused on luminance features in order to identify key image characteristics associated with material perception, as spatial patterns crucial for material impressions are predominantly based on luminance information. However, if our visual system relies on heuristics of image features for perceiving object materials, color should also play a role in these heuristics as well. In this seminar, I will discuss the influence of color on material perception, specifically with regard to glossiness and translucency. Firstly, a series of psychophysical experiments were conducted to explore the impact of color on material perception, revealing that the addition of colors enhances both glossiness and translucency. Subsequently, the relationship between simple image features and material perception was examined, highlighting the significant contributions of the Helmholtz-Kohlrausch effect and other color-related factors to perception under various stimulus conditions. Finally, I will address the question of whether color provides "essential" image cues for perceiving glossiness and translucency.

Short Biography: Takehiro Nagai is an Associate Professor at the Department of Information and Communications Engineering, Tokyo Institute of Technology. He is also a Senior Visiting Fellow at the School of Optometry and Vision Science, UNSW Sydney. He obtained his Ph.D. from Tokyo Institute of Technology under the supervision of Prof. Keiji Uchikawa. Following that, he conducted post-doctoral research at UCSD with Prof. Don MacLeod. He has held positions as an assistant/associate professor at Toyohashi University of Technology and Yamagata University before assuming his current position in 2018. Dr. Nagai's research interests lie in the fundamental mechanisms of visual perception and cognition, with a specific focus on color perception, material perception, and our interaction with the surrounding environment.