Preprint available

[Dan Ruderman]

The following preprint is available:


                Origins of scaling in natural images

                        Daniel L. Ruderman


One of the most robust qualities of our visual world is the
scale-invariance of natural images.  Not only has scaling been found
in different visual environments, but the phenomenon also appears to
be calibration independent.  This paper proposes a simple property of
natural images which explains this robustness: They are collages of
regions corresponding to statistically independent ``objects''.
Evidence is provided for these objects having a power-law distribution
of sizes within images, from which follows scaling in natural images.
It is commonly suggested that scaling instead results from edges, each
with power spectrum 1/k^2.  This hypothesis is refuted by example.


(To appear in Vision Research)


It may be found at my website:

	http://quake.usc.edu/~dlr/papers.html

-- 
Dr. Dan Ruderman          ruderman at sloan.salk.edu
The Salk Institute (VCL)  10010 N. Torrey Pines Road  La Jolla, CA 92037
(619) 453-4100 x2025   FAX: (619) 455-7933