Internal vs. External Information in Visual Perception
Ronald A. Rensink, Departments of Computer Science and Psychology, University of British Columbia, Vancouver BC, Canada.

Proceedings of the Second International Symposium on Smart Graphics, 63-70. 2002.   [pdf]
[Smart Graphics 2; Hawthorne, NY, USA.]

Abstract

One of the more compelling beliefs about vision is that it is based on representations that are coherent and complete, with everything in the visual field described in great detail. However, changes made during a visual disturbance are found to be difficult to see, arguing against the idea that our brains contain a detailed, picture-like representation of the scene. Instead, it is argued here that a more dynamic, "just-in-time" representation is involved, one with deep similarities to the way that users interact with external displays. It is further argued that these similarities can provide a basis for the design of intelligent display systems that can interact with humans in highly effective and novel ways.


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