Roland Fleming’s lab uses a combination of psychophysics, computer graphics and image analysis techniques to study how the brain visually estimates the physical properties of surfaces and objects. This includes the perception of 3D shape, optical properties of materials (such as translucency and glossiness), and higher-level physical and functional properties such as object stability and fluid viscosity.

Research in Karl Gegenfurtner’s group focuses on basic mechanisms of perception and action, including motion, colour, haptics and eye-movements. The group has bespoke systems for psychophysics, 3D display, eye movement recording, EEG and visuo-haptic virtual reality displays. The main goal of the research program is to explain how the brain extracts informative measurements from images to estimate behaviourally relevant properties of the surrounding world.