Neural dynamics of 3-D surface perception: Figure-ground separation and lightness perception

[Stephen Grossberg]

The following article is available at
http://www.cns.bu.edu/Profiles/Grossberg/  in HTML, PDF, and Gzipped
postscript:

Kelly, F. and Grossberg, (2000). Neural dynamics of 3-D surface perception:
Figure-ground separation and lightness perception.  Perception &
Psychophysics, in press.  Also available in the Tech Report Version, as
CAS/CNS TR-98-0226.

Abstract: This article develops the FACADE theory of three-dimensional
(3-D) vision to simulate data concerning how two-dimensional (2-D) pictures
give rise to 3-D percepts of occluded and occluding
surfaces. The theory suggests how geometrical and contrastive properties of
an image can either cooperate or compete when forming the boundary and
surface representations that subserve conscious
visual percepts. Spatially long-range cooperation and short-range
competition work together to separate boundaries of occluding figures from
their occluded neighbors, thereby providing sensitivity to T-junctions
without the need to assume that T-junction "detectors" exist. Both boundary
and surface representations of occluded objects may be amodally completed,
while the surface representations of
unoccluded objects become visible through modal processes. Computer
simulations include  Bregman-Kanizsa figure-ground separation, Kanizsa
stratification, and various lightness percepts, including the Munker-White,
Benary cross, and checkerboard percepts.

Key words: Amodal Completion, Depth Perception, Figure-Ground Perception,
Lightness, Visual Cortex, Neural Network