Human Visual

System
 Human and Computer Vision
 We observe and evaluate the images that
we process with our visual system.
 Without taking this elementary fact into
consideration, we may be much misled in
the interpretation of images

2
 Some Simple Questions
 How accurately we estimate and compare
distances and areas?
 What intensity differences can we distinguish?
 What is the spatial resolution of our eye?
 How do we sense colors?
 By which features can we detect and
distinguish objects?

3
 Test images
 Test images for distances
and area estimation
 Circles with up to 10%
difference in radius.
 Parallel lines with up to 5%
difference in length.

4
 Test images for distances and area
estimation
 The vertical line appears longer
but actually has the same length
as the horizontal line.

 Deception by perspective: the

upper line appears longer than
the lower one but actually have
the same length
5
Structure of the Human Eye

6
 Properties
 Nearly sphere
 Average diameter = 20mm
 3 Membrane enclose the eye
 Cornea
 Tough, Transparent tissue covers Anterior
 Sclera
 Continuous with cornea, opaque covers the
remainder of optic globe

7
 Choroids

 Directly below the sclera, Contains a network of blood

vassals, Main source of nutrition to the eye
 Heavily pigmented, hence helps to reduce
 Amount of extraneous light entering the eye
 The Backscatter within the optical globe
 Anterior side choroids is divided into
 Ciliary body
 Iris diaphragm
 Contracts OR Expands to control the amount of light entering the
EYE
 The central opening of the Iris (pupil) varies inn diameter from
approximately 2mm to 8 mm
8
 Lens
 Concentric layers of fibrous cells
 Suspended by the fibers, attach to the Ciliary body
 60% to 70% water, about 6% Fats and more protein
than any other tissue in the eye
 Colored with yellow pigmentation (that increases w/age)
 Lens absorbs approximately 6% of the visible
spectrum
 Relatively higher absorption at shorter wavelengths
 Both infrared and Ultraviolet are absorbed
appreciable by the proteins within the lens structure
9
 Lens
 The principal difference between the lens of the eye
and an ordinary optical lens is that the former is
flexible. As illustrated in Fig. 2.1, the radius of
curvature of the anterior surface of the lens is
greater than the radius of its posterior surface.
 The shape of the lens is controlled by tension in the
fibers of the Ciliary body.
 To focus on distant objects, the controlling muscles
cause the lens to be relatively flattened.
 Similarly, these muscles allow the lens to become
thicker in order to focus on objects near the eye. 10
 Retina
 Innermost membrane of the eye
 Lines the inside of the wall’s entire posterior
portion
 When the eye is properly focused, light from an
object outside the eye is imaged on the retina
 Retina has a distribution of discrete light
receptors of two classes over the surface.
 Cones
 Rods

11
 Cones
 In each eye between 6 and 7 million light
receptors.
 Located primarily in the central portion of the
retina, called the fovea.
 Highly sensitive to color.
 Each one is connected to its own nerve end,
providing us the ability to resolve fine details
 Cone-vision is called photopic or bright-light
vision.
12
 Rods
 The number of rods is much larger: 75 to 150 million
 Distributed over the entire retinal surface
 Several rods are connected to a single nerve end thus
reduce the amount of detail, discernible by these
receptors
 Rods serve to give a general, overall picture of the field
of view
 Not involved in color vision, Sensitive to low levels of
illumination
 Example, objects that appear brightly colored in daylight, when
seen by moonlight appear as colorless forms because only the
rods are stimulated
 Rod-Vision is known as scotopic or dim-light vision. 13
 Fovea
 Circular indentation in the retina of about 1.5
mm in diameter.
 However, for future discussions, we will consider
it as square or rectangular arrays of sensing
elements is more useful.
 Thus, we can view the fovea as a square sensor
array of size 1.5 mm*1.5 mm.
 The density of cones in that area of the retina is
approximately 150,000 elements per mm2.
 Based on these approximations, the number of
cones in the region of highest acuity in the eye is
about 337,000 elements.
14
 Resolution Power comparison
 Just in terms of raw resolving power, a charge-
coupled device (CCD) imaging chip of medium
resolution can have this number of elements in a
receptor array no larger than 5 mm X 5 mm.
 But the ability of humans to integrate intelligence
and experience with vision is not (yet) available
to machines.
 Keep in mind for future discussions that the
basic ability of the eye to resolve detail is
certainly within the realm of current electronic
imaging sensors
15
Rods & Cones Distribution

16
 Rods & Cones Distribution
 Figure shows the density of rods and cones for a
cross section of the right eye passing through
the region of emergence of the optic nerve from
the eye.
 The absence of receptors in this area results in
the so-called blind spot.
 Except for this region, the distribution of
receptors is radially symmetric about the fovea.
 Receptor density is measured in degrees from
the fovea 17
 Rods & Cones Distribution

 Cones are most dense in the center

of the retina (in the center area of the
fovea).
 Rods increase in density from the
center to approximately 20° off axis
and then decrease in density out to
the extreme periphery of the retina
18
 Image Formation

 focal length (FL) of eye lens varies from

approximately 17 mm to 14 mm.
 When the eye focuses on an object farther away
than about 3 m, the lens exhibits its lowest
refractive power => FL = 17mm
 This information makes it easy to calculate the
size of the retinal image of any object 19
 Brightness
Adaptation and
Discrimination
 Brightness Adaptation
 The range of light intensity
levels to which the human
visual system can adapt is
enormous on the order of 1010
 subjective brightness (intensity
as perceived by the human
visual system) is a logarithmic
function of the light intensity
incident on the eye

21
 Brightness Adaptation and
Discrimination
 The visual system cannot
operate over such a range
simultaneously.
 Rather, it accomplishes this
large variation by changes
in its overall sensitivity,
 This phenomenon known
as brightness adaptation

22
 Brightness Adaptation

 For a set of conditions,

the current sensitivity
level of the eye is called
brightness adaptation
level

23
 Contrast sensitivity
 The quantity where is
increment of illumination
discriminable 50% of the
time with background
illumination I, is called
the Weber ratio  Conversely, a

 A small value of the ratio

large value
represents “good” brightness represents “poor”
discrimination (BD). (BD)
24
Weber ratio

25
Simultaneous contrast

26
 Similar Triangles
 Suppose that triangle ABC is similar to triangle
DEF in such a way that the angle at vertex A is
congruent with the angle at vertex D, the angle
at B is congruent with the angle at E, and the
angle at C is congruent with the angle at F.
Then, once this is known, it is possible to
deduce proportionalities between corresponding
sides of the two triangles, such as the followig

28
ABC similar to DEF

29
Image representation

30