Exterior Scenes Research Articles

Representational horizon and visual space orientation: An investigation into the role of visual contextual cues on spatial mislocalisations.

The perceived offset position of a moving target has been found to be displaced forward, in the direction of motion (Representational Momentum; RM), downward, in the direction of gravity (Representational Gravity; RG), and, recently, further displaced along the horizon implied by the visual context (Representational Horizon; RH). The latter, while still underexplored, offers the prospect to clarify the role of visual contextual cues in spatial orientation and in the perception of dynamic events. As such, the present work sets forth to ascertain the robustness of Representational Horizon across varying types of visual contexts, particularly between interior and exterior scenes, and to clarify to what degree it reflects a perceptual or response phenomenon. To that end, participants were shown targets, moving along one out of several possible trajectories, overlaid on a randomly chosen background depicting either an interior or exterior scene rotated -22.5º, 0º, or 22.5º in relation to the actual vertical. Upon the vanishing of the target, participants were required to indicate its last seen location with a computer mouse. For half the participants, the background vanished with the target while for the remaining it was kept visible until a response was provided. Spatial localisations were subjected to a discrete Fourier decomposition procedure to obtain independent estimates of RM, RG, and RH. Outcomes showed that RH's direction was biased towards the horizon implied by the visual context, but solely for exterior scenes, and irrespective of its presence or absence during the spatial localisation response, supporting its perceptual/representational nature.

Beyond the Horizon

Beyond the Horizon

Beyond the Horizon

Beyond the Horizon

Mormonicity

Mormonicity

The Oddity Detection in Diverse Scenes (ODDS) database: Validated real-world scenes for studying anomaly detection.

Many applied screening tasks (e.g., medical image or baggage screening) involve challenging searches for which standard laboratory search is rarely equivalent. For example, whereas laboratory search frequently requires observers to look for precisely defined targets among isolated, non-overlapping images randomly arrayed on clean backgrounds, medical images present unspecified targets in noisy, yet spatially regular scenes. Those unspecified targets are typically oddities, elements that do not belong. To develop a closer laboratory analogue to this, we created a database of scenes containing subtle, ill-specified “oddity” targets. These scenes have similar perceptual densities and spatial regularities to those found in expert search tasks, and each includes 16 variants of the unedited scene wherein an oddity (a subtle deformation of the scene) is hidden. In Experiment 1, eight volunteers searched thousands of scene variants for an oddity. Regardless of their search accuracy, they were then shown the highlighted anomaly and rated its subtlety. Subtlety ratings reliably predicted search performance (accuracy and response times) and did so better than image statistics. In Experiment 2, we conducted a conceptual replication in which a larger group of naïve searchers scanned subsets of the scene variants. Prior subtlety ratings reliably predicted search outcomes. Whereas medical image targets are difficult for naïve searchers to detect, our database contains thousands of interior and exterior scenes that vary in difficulty, but are nevertheless searchable by novices. In this way, the stimuli will be useful for studying visual search as it typically occurs in expert domains: Ill-specified search for anomalies in noisy displays.

Performance evaluation of non-intrusive luminance mapping towards human-centered daylighting control

Monitoring luminance distributions, as perceived by the occupants, offers enormous possibilities for continuous and reliable sensing and human-centered daylighting control. Novel luminance monitoring, that utilizes a camera sensor at a non-intrusive position (distant from the occupants), can be achieved using HRDI sensing coupled with occupant-perceived luminance map re-projections. To overcome computational and practical challenges, this paper implements such a luminance monitoring framework in a real daylit office space and evaluates its performance using measured data. The processed re-projected luminance maps were compared against HDRI-measured luminance maps from two side-lit occupant positions. The results, presented in terms of structural similarity measures and visual comfort prediction and diagnostic performance, show that the developed method can predict and monitor luminance distributions in the occupant field of view with sufficient accuracy. A regional super-pixel-scale analysis was performed to further analyze the source of errors, by applying masks to four different regions of interest. The major source of error is the bright exterior scene visible through the window, as well as bright reflections inside the space, which should be generally avoided for glare protection. Overall, this paper presents an important step towards non-intrusive, human-centered daylighting control based on luminance mapping.

Enclosed Spaces in Samuel Beckett’s Come and Go and Caryl Churchill’s Escaped Alone: Exploring Feminine Spatiality

Despite obvious differences between the two plays, both Samuel Beckett’s Come and Go (1967) and Caryl Churchill’s Escaped Alone (2016) essentially represent structured interactions between female fi gures seated in enclosed spaces. It can be argued that these setups explore the theme of feminine spatiality. As Iris Young points out, based on Maurice Merleau-Ponty’s concept of phenomenal space, ‘if there are particular modalities of feminine bodily comportment and motility, it must follow that there are also particular modalities of feminine spatiality’ (39). And indeed, as Erik Erikson demonstrated in his experiment, women and men tend to use space differently: female gender is associated primarily with static position and enclosed spaces, in contrast with male preference of exterior scenes, movement and collapse (590). While Churchill is known for her explorations of feminist themes, it can be argued that in Beckett’s late plays confi ned spaces and movement restrictions are not ‘gender-affi liated’ (cf. Bryden 1, 125); nevertheless, other critics point out that while most of Beckett’s characters largely defy social labelling, ‘they have, despite their fright wigs and greatcoats, gender’ (Diamond 45). It seems that this aspect should also be taken into account while analysing spatiality in Come and Go, since Merleau-Ponty’s phenomenology, typically employed in analysing embodiment in Beckett’s plays, ‘excludes or cannot explain those specifi c corporeal experiences undergone by women’ (Grosz 108). The article offers, therefore, an analysis of the strategies employed by both playwrights in exploring feminine spatiality.

Automatic human trajectory destination prediction from video

This paper presents an intelligent human trajectory destination detection system from video. The system assumes a passive collection of video from a wide scene used by humans in their daily motion activities such as walking towards a door. The proposed system includes three main modules, namely human blob detection, star skeleton detection and destination area prediction, and it works directly with raw video, producing motion features for destination prediction system, such as position, velocity and acceleration from detected human skeletons, resulting in several input features that are used to train a machine learning classifier. We adopted a university campus exterior scene for the experimental study, which includes 348 pedestrian trajectories from 171 videos and five destination areas: A, B, C, D and E. A total of six data processing combinations and four machine learning classifiers were compared, under a realistic growing window evaluation. Overall, high quality results were achieved by the best model, which uses 37 skeleton motion inputs, undersampling on training data and a random forest. The global discrimination, in terms of area of the receiver operating characteristic curve is around 87%. Furthermore, the best model can predict in advance the five destination classes, obtaining a very good ahead discrimination for classes A, B, C and D, and a reasonable ahead discrimination for class E.

Assessing the Ability of Simulated Laboratory Scenes to Predict the Image Quality Performance of HDR Captures (and Rendering) of Exterior Scenes Using Mobile Phone Cameras

With the advent of computational photography, most cellphones include High Dynamic Range (HDR) modes or "apps" that capture and render high contrast scenes in-camera using techniques such as multiple exposures and subsequent "addition" of those exposures to render a properly exposed image. The results from different cameras vary. Testing the image quality of different cameras involves field-testing under dynamic lighting conditions that may involve moving objects. Such testing often becomes a cumbersome and time-consuming task. It would be more efficient to conduct such testing in a controlled, laboratory environment. This study investigates the feasibility of such testing. Natural exterior scenes, at day and night, some of which include "motion", were captured with a range of cellphone cameras using their native HDR modes. The luminance ratios of these scenes were accurately measured using various spectro-radiometers and luminance meters. Artificial scenes, which include characteristics of the natural exterior scenes and have similar luminance ratios, were created in a laboratory environment. These simulated scenes were captured using the same modes as the natural exterior scenes. A subjective image quality evaluation was conducted using some 20 observers to establish an observer preference scale separately for each scene. For each natural exterior scene, the correlation coefficients between its preference scale and the preference scale obtained for each laboratory scene were calculated, and the laboratory scene with the highest correlation was identified. It was determined that while it was difficult to accurately quantify the actual dynamic range of a natural exterior scene, especially at night, we could still simulate the luminance ratios of a wide range of natural exterior HDR scenes, from 266:1 to 15120:1, within a laboratory environment. Preliminary results of the subjective study indicated that reasonably good correlation (0.8 or higher on average) was obtained between the natural exterior and laboratory simulated scenes. However, such correlations were determined to be specific to the type of scene studied. The scope of this study needs to be narrowed. Another consideration, how moving objects in the scene would affect the results, needs further investigation.

Energy Saving Potential from Daylighting through External Multiple-Slat Shaded Window in the Tropics

Sunlight is strong and skylight is voluminous in the tropics. External multiple horizontal slats are simple but effective to shade the direct sunlight from north- and south-facing windows of a building in a tropical region. The device still allows the skylight to pass through and offers comfortable viewing from the interior to the exterior scene. This paper presents technical results of an experimental and simulation study on the use of such device with windows. The paper demonstrates an optimization of energy benefit from using such device on appropriate size of and suitable type of the glazed window.

A Platform Establishment Method for Auto Driving Simulation Based on EON Studio

The factors of outline appearance, colors and interior decorations in vehicle design have direct influence on consumers. How to express these factors rapidly and vividly by using virtual reality (VR) technology has been researched in the paper. Firstly, the design scheme has been presented out of virtual driving platform. Secondly, the vehicle models and its exterior scenes have been built. In addition, the virtual driving platform has been established based on EON Studio, the Cg advanced rendering and the collision detection are developed of vehicle body and exterior scenes. Finally, the human-machine interactive operations have been realized, which provides virtual environment for designers and customers to observe and experience freely in the virtual driving platform.

Simulating Adaptation Luminances

A method for simulating the effects of visual adaptation using image processing techniques was developed, and then tested for accuracy in predicting the reductions in visual performance that occur with adaptation. The simulation process entailed transforming digital photographs of realistic exterior scenes into the spatial frequency domain, filtering the transformed data using contrast sensitivity functions for different adaptation levels, transforming the filtered data back into the luminance domain, and producing a new digital image of the scene. Two experiments were conducted that compared performance on a realistic visual detection task when the subjects were adapted to different luminances, to performance on the same task when subjects' adaptation level was held constant while they viewed the simulated adaptation effects. Results showed that the simulations produced decreases in performance in the same direction as actual adaptation effects, but the effects were of smaller magnitude. A third experiment was conducted to better quantify the differences between the simulated and actual adaptation conditions; this experiment utilized a standardized visual test target, the United States Air Force (USAF) 1951 test pattern.

Good Night, and Good Luck

In Good Night, and Good Luck, director George Clooney and screenwriter Grant Heslov employ the 1954 confrontation between cbs newsman Edward R. Murrow (played in stoic fashion by veteran character actor David Strathairn) and Wisconsin senator Joseph McCarthy to comment on contemporary politics in the age of terror. The liberal Clooney contrasts the timidity of a corporate media that failed to challenge the George W. Bush administration's assumptions regarding weapons of mass destruction in Iraq with the courage Murrow and his producer Fred Friendly (George Clooney) displayed. The film evokes the mood of the 1950s through ubiquitous swirling cigarette smoke, claustrophobic newsrooms (there are no exterior scenes in the film), stark black-and-white cinematography, which allows the filmmakers to show historical footage of McCarthy, and a classic jazz soundtrack featuring Dianne Reeves as a performer in the style of Billie Holiday or Ella Fitzgerald. The ambiguity and paradox of the era are also apparent in the film's conclusion. Murrow plays a key role in bringing McCarthy down, yet the reporter's role at the network is reduced by board chair William Paley (Frank Langella), who is concerned about the impact of political controversy on corporate sponsorship. This astute film eschews the simplicity of the liberal hero slaying the reactionary dragon.

Approximate field measurement of surface luminance using a digital camera

This paper describes a method of estimating and recording surface luminance using widely available types of digital cameras and photographic image processing software. The method involves recording the luminance of a 10-step grey scale placed within a scene at the time an image is captured. The relationship between luminosity (a value obtainable from the software) and luminance of the grey scale may then be used to determine the luminance of surfaces within the scene to an accuracy of within 10%. The technique has been successfully applied to interior and exterior scenes lit in a variety of ways and to a number of types of digital camera. The methodology, robustness and limitations of the technique are set out.

Woman's Theatrical Space, and: Theatre and Feminist Aesthetics (review)

Reviewed by: Woman’s Theatrical Space, and: Theatre and Feminist Aesthetics Susan C. Haedicke Woman’s Theatrical Space. By Hanna Scolnicov. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1994; pp. 177. $49.95 cloth. Theatre and Feminist Aesthetics. Edited by Karen Laughlin and Catherine Schuler. Madison: Fairleigh Dickinson University Press, 1995; pp. 319. $45.00 cloth. These two books exploring women and theatre could not be more different. Woman’s Theatrical Space examines the gradual dissociation of woman and home in major plays from the Greeks to the present day and the parallel shift in attitudes towards the woman’s familial role. Theatre and Feminist Aesthetics, on the other hand, offers a collection of essays “focusing on theatre as a forum for feminist redefinitions of the aesthetic” (17). Yet this unlikely pairing of works together offers an interesting dialogue on the position of women in today’s cultural landscape and on feminist scholarship in the academy. In a comparative study of a sampling of plays from Aeschylus to Pinter, Beckett, and Handke, Hanna Scolnicov sets out to establish that “the ideological positions of the society and of the playwright shape the contours of the theatrical space. . . . [And that] the analysis of theatrical space directly reveals the changing conceptions of woman’s position in the family and in society” (8). In order to do so, she distinguishes between “theatrical space within” (spaces visible to the audience) and “theatrical space without” (off-stage or invisible spaces). Scolnicov admits that the division of within and without is most easily recognizable in the opposition of indoors and outdoors, and she, somewhat conveniently, chooses to limit her discussion almost exclusively to plays in which this dichotomy represents such a pairing. She justifies this choice by asserting that structural division of space into the interior and the exterior of the house carries with it social and cultural implications. Gender roles are spatially defined in relation to the inside and the outside of [End Page 398] the house. Traditionally, it is the woman who makes the house into a home, her home, while the world of commerce, war, travel, the world outside, is a man’s world. . . . From the spatial point of view, the world of the man and the world of the woman meet on the threshold. [6] The argument which follows traces the shift in “theatrical space within” from exterior scenes to interior ones and finally to abstract spaces devoid of gender signification. This development, for Scolnicov, parallels the gradual “dissolution of woman’s unique bond with space” (155), her loss of identification with the home. Beginning with Aeschylus, Scolnicov explores the significance of the skene as the wall between the outdoors and the indoors, the visual manifestation of the incipient tradition of dividing space into gender specific areas. She shows how, in Agamemnon, the skene represents the threshold of the palace separating the public and ceremonial area of the returning warriors from the domestic world of the women left behind. Thus Agamemnon’s crossing of that threshold, the central action of the play, visually manifests the conflict of genders. Architecturally, the skene represents the border between indoors and outdoors, but conceptually, Scolnicov asserts, it reflects the division between man’s and woman’s world. Scolnicov develops subsequent chapters using a similar methodology. Throughout the book, she explores how “woman’s special links with space, based on her privileged position in the home” (154) gradually shrink and disappear. Moliere marks the revolutionary shift from exterior to interior spaces being presented on stage, a shift which signifies the invasion of woman’s space and the start of her gradually shrinking connection with it. By Beckett, space is no longer gender-specific as Winnie’s mound in Happy Days or the disembodied mouth in Not I epitomize. More compelling than the survey of the gradual dissociation of woman and home in western drama are the parallels Scolnicov establishes at certain times in the book between space and the woman’s body. In her analysis of Lysistrata, for example, she shows how the theatrical space becomes eroticized through its association with the female body which, in turn, endows every action with sexual overtones. The Acropolis, the interior space claimed by the...

Vehicles Recognition by Video Camera

The paper presents the recognition of vehicles considered as obstacles in the road, in order to avoid collision. An inboard video camera is used as an optical sensor to supply exterior scene information. The algorithm of vehicle detection from video image, built by morphological transformations (Serra 1982), is proposed. The advantage of the proposed approach is the reliable recognition for various models and colors of vehicle, and the good efficiency for difficult case like distant vehicles and lateral sun shadows. The experimentation has been done on a large amount of data. Some of results is given in the article.

Resolution Requirements for HDTV Based upon the Performance of 35mm Motion-Picture Films for Theatrical Viewing

In early attempts by the television engineering community to define “high-definition television,” theatrically viewed 35mm motion-picture film served as the standard for determining resolution requirements. However, data on the amount of resolution in 35mm films for theater audiences was not readily available. A test film was produced by CBS Technology Center containing exterior scenes into which a standard Marconi television chart was inserted, and was viewed in a theater using high-quality projection equipment. Photographic methods were Used to assess and document the projected film's performance. This article describes the details of producing and measuring the test film and associated equipment, and reviews earlier work relating to frame positioning errors. It concludes with a presentation of the results achieved.

Putting Clouds into Exterior Scenes

A landscape that includes a cloud-flecked sky is far more attractive than the same scene without the clouds, particularly in photographic landscapes, where, without the benefit of color, the cloudless sky area is rendered as an uninteresting expanse of monotone. It has long been a major problem of the studios to be assured of obtaining attractive exterior scenes, for a great deal of equipment and personnel are involved when moving a unit out of the studio. It is not possible to decide suddenly to move out to an exterior location; exterior scenes must be planned well and at least twenty-four hours in advance. During the long California summer, weeks on end follow without clouds of any description, and the cameraman is often faced with the problem of having to photograph scenes with little or no pictorial embellishment. Heretofore, in the major productions, it has often been necessary to “dupe” in clouds after the scenes have been made, and sometimes locations at a distance have been chosen where conditions indicated that chances of obtaining real clouds were reasonably favorable. The budget for the average production does not permit the great expense of either of these alternatives, so a process had to be developed by means of which clouds could be produced with dependability and economy.

The Brightness Scale of Exterior Scenes and the Computation of Correct Photographic Exposure*

Get PDF Email Share Share with Facebook Tweet This Post on reddit Share with LinkedIn Add to CiteULike Add to Mendeley Add to BibSonomy Get Citation Copy Citation Text Loyd A. Jones and H. R. Condit, "The Brightness Scale of Exterior Scenes and the Computation of Correct Photographic Exposure*," J. Opt. Soc. Am. 31, 651-678 (1941) Export Citation BibTex Endnote (RIS) HTML Plain Text Citation alert Save article

The Use of Photoelectric Exposure-Meters in the Hollywood Studios<!--<xref ref-type="other" rid="fn1-10.5594_J17346">*</xref>-->

The use of photoelectric exposure-meters by Hollywood studio cameramen is definitely increasing. Such meters are universally employed on Technicolor productions, and are also employed by an increasing majority of studio cinematographers for monochrome exterior scenes. In general, cameramen consider conventional types of photoelectric meters unsuitable for use on interior scenes. For use under studio interior lighting a meter of especial precision in the low-brightness range is necessary and a direct-reading, rather than a reflection-reading, type would be preferred by many. In the opinion of many leading cameramen, a photometer reading directly in foot-candles, rather than an exposure-meter reading in photographic exposure units, would be preferable for this usage.