Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Observations on Shape-from-Shading in Humans

  • Chapter
Shape Perception in Human and Computer Vision

Part of the book series: Advances in Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition ((ACVPR))

  • 2834 Accesses

Abstract

Humans are able to judge the shape of an undulating surface from variations in the amount of light reflected from it due to changes in its orientation/position relative to the light source: shape-from-shading. The study of shape-from-shading in humans has a long history but remains an open problem. While it is clear that humans can use shading information as a shape/depth cue the mechanisms which support this process are not well understood. This knowledge gap is also found in the computer vision literature where despite many years’ of effort and the existence of many good algorithms to deal with special cases, a robust, generic solution to shape-from-shading remains somewhat elusive. In this chapter, we review the principle findings from the literature on shape-from-shading including aspects of lighting estimation and the role of prior assumptions.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 84.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 109.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 109.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

References

  1. Adams WJ, Graf EW, Ernst MO (2004) Experience can change the ‘light-from-above’ prior. Nat Neurosci 7:1057–1058

    Article  Google Scholar 

  2. Belhumeur PN, Kriegman DJ, Yuille AL (1999) The bas-relief ambiguity. Int J Comput Vis 35:33–44

    Article  Google Scholar 

  3. Curran W, Johnston A (1996) The effect of illuminant position on perceived curvature. Vis Res 36(10):1399–1410

    Article  Google Scholar 

  4. Christou CG, Koenderink JJ (1997) Light source dependence in shape from shading. Vis Res 37(11):1441–1449

    Article  Google Scholar 

  5. Erens RGF, Kappers AML, Koenderink JJ (1993) Perception of local shape from shading. Percept Psychophys 54:145–156

    Article  Google Scholar 

  6. Gerardin P, Kourtzi Z, Mamassian P (2010) Prior knowledge of illumination for 3d perception in the human brain. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 107:16309–16314

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. Hill H, Bruce V (1994) A comparison between the hollow-face and “hollow-potato” illusions. Perception 23:1335–1337

    Article  Google Scholar 

  8. Ikeuchi K, Horn BKP (1981) Numerical shape from shading and occluding boundaries. Artif Intell 17(1–3):141–184

    Article  Google Scholar 

  9. Johnston A, Passmore PJ (1994) Independent encoding of surface orientation and surface curvature. Vis Res 34:3005–3012

    Article  Google Scholar 

  10. Johnston A, Passmore PJ (1994) Shape from shading: surface curvature and orientation. Perception 23:169–189

    Article  Google Scholar 

  11. Knill DC (1992) The perception of surface contours and surface shape: from computation to psychophysics. J Opt Soc Am A 9:1449–1464

    Article  Google Scholar 

  12. Koenderink JJ, Pont SC, van Doorn AJ, Kappers AML, Todd JT (2007) The visual light field. Perception 36:1595–1610

    Article  Google Scholar 

  13. Koenderink JJ, van Doorn AJ, Kappers AML (1992) Surface perception in pictures. Percept Psychophys 52:487–496

    Article  Google Scholar 

  14. Koenderink JJ, van Doorn AJ, Kappers AML (2001) Ambiguity and the ‘mental eye’ in pictorial relief. Perception 30:431–448

    Article  Google Scholar 

  15. Koenderink JJ, van Doorn AJ, Pont SC (2007) Perception of illuminance flow in the case of anisotropic rough surfaces. Atten Percept Psychophys 69:895–903

    Article  Google Scholar 

  16. Langer MS, Bülthoff HH (2000) Depth discrimination from shading under diffuse lighting. Perception 29(6):649–660

    Article  Google Scholar 

  17. Langer MS, Bülthoff HH (2001) A prior for local convexity in local shape from shading. Perception 30:403–410

    Article  Google Scholar 

  18. Liu B, Todd JT (2004) Perceptual biases in the interpretation of 3d shape from shading. Vis Res 44:2135–2145

    Article  Google Scholar 

  19. Mamassian P, Goutcher R (2001) Prior knowledge on the illumination position. Cognition 81:B1–B9

    Article  Google Scholar 

  20. Marr D (1982) Vision. Freedman, New York

    Google Scholar 

  21. Mingolla E, Todd JT (1986) Perception of solid shape from shading. Biol Cybern 53:137–151

    Article  Google Scholar 

  22. Morgenstern Y, Murray RF, Harris LR (2011) The human visual system’s assumption that light comes from above is weak. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 108(30):12551–12553

    Article  Google Scholar 

  23. Pentland A (1982) Finding the illuminant direction. J Opt Soc Am 72:448–455

    Article  Google Scholar 

  24. Pentland A (1984) Local shading analysis. IEEE Trans Pattern Anal Mach Intell 6:170–187

    Article  Google Scholar 

  25. Pentland A (1989) Shape information from shading: a theory about human perception. Spat Vis 4:165–182

    Article  Google Scholar 

  26. Pizlo Z (2008) 3D shape: its unique place in visual perception. MIT Press, Cambridge

    Google Scholar 

  27. Ramachandran VS (1988) Perception of shape-from-shading. Nature 331:163–165

    Article  Google Scholar 

  28. Rittenhouse D (1786) Explanation of an optical deception. Trans Am Philos Soc 2:37–42

    Article  Google Scholar 

  29. Schofield AJ, Rock PB, Georgeson MA (2011) Sun and sky: does human vision assume a mixture of point and diffuse illumination when interpreting shape-from-shading? Vis Res 51:2317–2330

    Article  Google Scholar 

  30. Seyama J, Sato T (1998) Shape from shading: estimation of reflectance map. Vis Res 38:3805–3815

    Article  Google Scholar 

  31. Sun J, Perona P (1998) Where is the Sun? Nat Neurosci 1:183–184

    Article  Google Scholar 

  32. Sun P, Schofield AJ (2012) Two operational modes in the perception of shape from shading revealed by the effects of edge information in slant settings. J Vis 12(1):12

    Article  Google Scholar 

  33. Todd JT, Mingolla E (1983) Perception of surface curvature and direction of illumination from patterns of shading. J Exp Psychol Hum Percept Perform 9:583–595

    Article  Google Scholar 

  34. Tyler CW (1998) Diffuse illumination as a default assumption for shape-from-shading in graded images. J Image Sci Technol 42:319–325

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Psychology, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, UK, B15 2TT

    Andrew J. Schofield & Giacomo Mazzilli

  2. Department of Cognitive Science, University of California Irvine, Irvine, CA, 92697-5100, USA

    Peng Sun

Authors
  1. Andrew J. Schofield
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Peng Sun
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Giacomo Mazzilli
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Andrew J. Schofield .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Computer Science, University of Toronto, King's College Road 6, Toronto, M5S 3G4, Ontario, Canada

    Sven J. Dickinson

  2. Department of Psychological Sciences, Purdue University, Third Street 703, West Lafayette, 47907, Indiana, USA

    Zygmunt Pizlo

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2013 Springer-Verlag London

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Schofield, A.J., Sun, P., Mazzilli, G. (2013). Observations on Shape-from-Shading in Humans. In: Dickinson, S., Pizlo, Z. (eds) Shape Perception in Human and Computer Vision. Advances in Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition. Springer, London. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4471-5195-1_8

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4471-5195-1_8

  • Publisher Name: Springer, London

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4471-5194-4

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4471-5195-1

  • eBook Packages: Computer ScienceComputer Science (R0)

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation