An investigation of fixational eye movement patterns during three-dimensional object recognition:
Lead Research Organisation:
Bangor University
Department Name: Sch of Psychology
Abstract
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Publications
Charles Leek E
(2012)
Eye movements during object recognition in visual agnosia.
in Neuropsychologia
Cristino F
(2015)
Stereo disparity facilitates view generalization during shape recognition for solid multipart objects.
in Quarterly journal of experimental psychology (2006)
Davitt LI
(2014)
Shape information mediating basic- and subordinate-level object recognition revealed by analyses of eye movements.
in Journal of experimental psychology. Human perception and performance
Leek EC
(2016)
Early differential sensitivity of evoked-potentials to local and global shape during the perception of three-dimensional objects.
in Neuropsychologia
Leek EC
(2012)
Eye movement patterns during the recognition of three-dimensional objects: preferential fixation of concave surface curvature minima.
in Journal of vision
Lim IS
(2012)
Curvature and the visual perception of shape: theory on information along object boundaries and the minima rule revisited.
in Psychological review
Oliver ZJ
(2018)
Stereo viewing modulates three-dimensional shape processing during object recognition: A high-density ERP study.
in Journal of experimental psychology. Human perception and performance
Pegna AJ
(2018)
Effects of stereoscopic disparity on early ERP components during classification of three-dimensional objects.
in Quarterly journal of experimental psychology (2006)
Reppa I
(2015)
The role of surface-based representations of shape in visual object recognition.
in Quarterly journal of experimental psychology (2006)
| Description | Our project used eye tracking methods to examine the kinds of shape information observers acquire whilst performing 3D object recognition under mono- and stereo-viewing conditions, using rigorously controlled, computer generated 3D object models. To analyse these data we developed novel statistical geometric modelling tools (to be made freely available in Matlab code through the project website) that co-register fixation points to underlying object features (e.g., regions of surface curvature, edge density etc.) in 3D space. These techniques will permit future researchers to combine eye tracking with stereo viewing. The research data showed that human eye movement patterns during recognition are not random, but highly systematic, and driven by the spatial distributions of surface curvature, and higher-order object part structure. At the same time, we also showed how shape information is used during perception varies according to a number of task-related factors including the level of image classification required, and whether observers have been asked to identify object shape, or plan a grasping action towards it. These findings provided new constraints on models of object representation in human vision. |
| Exploitation Route | (1) The work will inform researchers in academia and industry with interests in eye movements, object recognition, stereo vision and robotics. The project has fostered new collaboration with machine vision researchers to facilitate the exploitation of the results in computer vision environments. The project directly contributed to our involvement in the EPSRC-funded Network Award 'Visual Image Interpretation in Man and Machine' (2013). This is a UK-based inter-disciplinary research cluster involving several institutions including Birmingham, Oxford, UCL, Bristol, Bradford, Cardiff and Heriot Watt. (2) Publication of our initial findings in Leek et al (2012) initiated a venture between the research group and SBXL Ltd (http://www.sbxl.com) - a company which undertakes consumer evaluation work for retail clients. The aim is to use our knowledge of shape perception and eye tracking to optimise package shape/design, and consumer/shopper product perceptions. (3) We were also able to employ the new methodological techniques arising from the project to examine eye movement patterns in neurological populations suffering from disorders of visual perception and object recognition. Additional studies using these new methods will help us to further our understanding of acquired cognitive impairments in clinical populations, and potentially lead to the development of new techniques of therapeutic intervention. |
| Sectors | Aerospace, Defence and Marine,Digital/Communication/Information Technologies (including Software),Electronics,Other |
| URL | http://pages.bangor.ac.uk/~pss034/ESRCProject/index.html |
| Description | The project generated new empirical datasets, as well as novel methodological tools and theoretical advances in our knowledge of eye movements and object recognition in human vision. We have (to date) published 6 papers - including one paper (Davitt et al., 2014, JEP:HPP) that was selected by the American Psychological Association (APA) as an outstanding new scientific paper across ALL papers published in APA journals: http://charlotte.neuro.brown.edu/shared/PeePs/PeePs%20-%20Issue%2017.htm). There are also currently 4 other papers in revision or in preparation. There were 14 conference and other presentations in the UK and abroad. The work produced a methodological breakthrough for the analysis of eye movement in 3D (stereo) environments. This technique, and associated software (Matlab) code should be of wide interest to researchers in psychology, computer vision and other applied domains. |
| First Year Of Impact | 2012 |
| Sector | Other |
| Impact Types | Economic |
| Description | Eye movements and the visual perception of shape |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Invited seminar. University of Geneva 2012. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2012 |
| Description | Object recognition and Representation in Man and Machine |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Other audiences |
| Results and Impact | An interdisciplinary workshop entitled 'Object recognition and Representation in Man and Machine' was held in Bangor on July 4th, 2013 to disseminate research findings. The workshop was held as part of the Experimental Psychology Society (EPS) summer meeting (local organiser: Charles Leek) with talks from a psychological perspective by: Leek, Cristino, Pegna (Geneva) and Thierry, and from machine vision by Thacker (Manchester), Siebert/Strachan (Glasgow) and Rosin (Cardiff). The meeting was attended by over 100 delegates from across the UK, and jointly funded by the EPS and the School of Psychology. The organisation of the workshop has helped to foster inter-disciplinary collaboration in this field - which was one of the primary objectives of the project. We have also published outputs from the grant in both psychology oriented, and machine vision journals. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2013 |