Partitive mixing of images: a tool for investigating pictorial perception

Abstract

In certain cases, images of different scenes can be mixed to produce an image of a novel scene. For example, an image of a pink sphere can be additively mixed from suitable images of a red and a white sphere. Three ways in which scenes can differ are considered: in the spectral composition of the illuminant and in the spectral and the geometric reflectance of scene objects. Sufficient conditions are given for mixing to produce images that correspond to possible scenes. Examples illustrate ways that mixtures can be used as stimuli in psychophysical experiments concerned with pictorial perception.