Glossiness

It has been a year now since I joined the PRISM network (in my case in Paris with Pascal Mamassian). For my first project we quickly decided to focus on the topic of glossiness perception. I started browsing the literature and spent a lot of effort on learning how to use 3D computer graphics software. I created glossy and matte objects under different lighting conditions with different materials.

At the moment I am concentrating on glossiness constancy. The blurring of the highlight contour and the intensity of highlights on surfaces depend on the material properties. Form and position depend mainly on the relative position of the observer and light source. The visual system should therefore rely mostly on the blurring and intensity. Any movement of the observer should not affect the perception of glossiness even though it changes form, size and position of all highlights. The main question I try to answer at the moment is if glossiness perception is invariant under...