Sight Research Articles

Modality-specific effects of threat on self-motion perception

BackgroundThreat and individual differences in threat-processing bias perception of stimuli in the environment. Yet, their effect on perception of one’s own (body-based) self-motion in space is unknown. Here, we tested the effects of threat on self-motion perception using a multisensory motion simulator with concurrent threatening or neutral auditory stimuli.ResultsStrikingly, threat had opposite effects on vestibular and visual self-motion perception, leading to overestimation of vestibular, but underestimation of visual self-motions. Trait anxiety tended to be associated with an enhanced effect of threat on estimates of self-motion for both modalities.ConclusionsEnhanced vestibular perception under threat might stem from shared neural substrates with emotional processing, whereas diminished visual self-motion perception may indicate that a threatening stimulus diverts attention away from optic flow integration. Thus, threat induces modality-specific biases in everyday experiences of self-motion.

The Effect of Intelligence Games on Primary School 4th Grade Students' Mental Skill Levels

This research was aimed to analyze the effects of intelligence games on the mental skill levels of fourth grade students. The research was carried out in a public school located in Manavgat district of Antalya province. The study group of the research consists of 40 volunteer students (20 in the experimental group, 20 in the control group) studying in two different branches of the 4th grades in the spring term of the 2021-2022 academic year. The research was designed in the form of a pre-test and post-test control group and the quantitative data of the research were collected through the 'Mental Skill Assessment Test' developed by Marangoz (2018). The experimental group was given a total of 16 hours of intelligence games training for eight weeks, two lessons per week (80 minutes). In the research, a valid and reliable ready-made test developed by Marangoz (2018) (Mental Skill Assessment Test) was used to evaluate students' mental skill levels (strategic thinking, focusing attention, analyzing, establishing a part-whole relationship, visual perception, benefiting from clues). This test was applied to the experimental and control groups as a pre-test and post-test. The Normality Test was conducted to investigate the normal distribution of the data as a result of the research. In the research, 6 different intelligence games were used for 10 weeks. In order to examine the relationship between the pre-test and post-test scores of the experimental and control groups before the application, the dependent sample t-test was performed. In the research, it was observed that there was a significant increase in the mental skills of the experimental group students, who were played 6 different intelligence games for 10 weeks. According to the results of the research, we can say that intelligence games improve the mental skills levels of students.

Long-term ayahuasca use is associated with preserved global cognitive function and improved memory: a cross-sectional study with ritual users.

Although several studies have been conducted to elucidate the relationship between psychedelic consumption and cognition, few have focused on understanding the long-term use influence of these substances on these variables, especially in ritualistic contexts. To verify the influence of ritualistic ayahuasca consumption on the cognition of experienced ayahuasca religious users (> 20years) and beginners (< 3years), which participated in rituals of the Centro Luz Divina (CLD), a Santo Daime church in Brazil. Observational, descriptive, and cross-sectional study was carried out in which 48 people participated divided into three groups: (a) experienced ayahuasca users (n = 16), (b) beginner ayahuasca users (n = 16) and (c) control group (n = 16). All groups were matched by sex, age, and education and contained 8 women and 8 men. Cognition was assessed with the WASI (intelligence quotient), Digit Span (verbal working memory), Corsi Block-Tapping Task (visuospatial-related and working memory), Rey-Osterrieth Complex Figure test (visual perception, immediate memory), and Wisconsin Card Sorting and Five Digit Test (executive functions). Groups were homogenous in terms of sociodemographic characteristics, with participants presenting average intellectual performance. There was no evidence of cognitive decline amongst ayahuasca users. The experienced group showed higher scores compared to the less experienced group in the Digit Span and Corsi Block-Tapping tasks, which assess working verbal and visuospatial memories respectively. We confirmed the botanical identities of Psychotria viridis and Banisteriopsis caapi and the presence of the alkaloids both in the plants and in the brew. Short and long-term ayahuasca consumption does not seem to alter human cognition, while long-term use seems to be associated with improvements in aspects of working memory when compared with short-term use.

Sport tourist perceptions of destination image and revisit intentions: An adaption of Mehrabian-Russell's environmental psychology model

In environmental psychology literature, an individual's perception of the surroundings leads to subsequent behaviors. In this regard, small-scale sport events (SSE) have been used as a marketing tool for tourism development. However, how SSEs are leveraged to improve destination image (DI) for tourists has not been fully understood. Building on Mehrabian-Russell's environmental psychology model, this study examined the relationship between the SSE environmental stimuli and revisit intentions through the sequential mediation of cognitive and affective DI. Data from the 423 respondents were collected from 2023 Wuxi Marathon held in Wuxi, China. Structural equation modeling was employed to analyze the hypothesized framework. The results indicated that the SSE environmental stimuli were positively associated with both cognitive and affective DI, which were positively correlated with revisit intentions. The applicability of the serial mediation of cognitive and affective DI within the relationship was confirmed. This study contributes to the sport and tourism literature by extending the applicability of Mehrabian and Russell's model to SSE settings and identifying the serial mediating effects of cognitive and affective DI.

Revealing a word superiority effect using a unique variant of the Latin alphabet: the evidence from Turkish

When visual stimuli are presented briefly, words are perceived better than nonwords. It is widely accepted that this word superiority effect reflects the efficiency with which words are perceived. However, most of what is known about the effect comes from languages (like English) using the basic Latin alphabet and little is known about whether languages using an alphabetic variant with very different properties can also produce word superiority. Here we report an experiment in which words and nonwords were presented briefly in Turkish, which uses a unique variant of the Latin alphabet containing 29 separate letters, 12 of which are close visual replications of other letters. Despite the potential for visual confusability and perceptual uncertainty, the findings revealed a clear advantage for words over nonwords, indicating that word superiority observed previously for the Latin alphabet can also be observed with the very different variant of this alphabet used for Turkish. Implications of these findings for processes involved in visual word perception are discussed.

ASIFusion: An Adaptive Saliency Injection-Based Infrared and Visible Image Fusion Network

The purpose of infrared and visible image fusion (IVIF) is to acquire a more informative fused image by leveraging complementary information, facilitating human perception and machine vision. Among the existing fusion methods, the saliency-based methods conform to human perception characteristics and achieve relatively advantageous fusion performance. However, such methods fail to adaptively maintain the edge and intensity of salient objects, resulting in fixed fusion performance. To address these issue, we present ASIFusion , an adaptive saliency injection-based IVIF network. First, source images are inputted to the feature extraction encoder for fully extracting features. Meanwhile, the proposed adaptive saliency injection module detects salient objects in the infrared image and then learns the fusion weights of each channel, which serve as supplementary information for further fusion. These learned weights are utilized to merge the source images’ extracted features. Finally, the feature reconstruction decoder produces a fused image with injected saliency. The fused image maintains the intensity and edge of the salient objects and fully preserves the complementary information. Extensive experiments demonstrate that our proposed network outperforms state-of-the-art (SOTA) approaches with regard to fusion performance and computational efficiency.

Spectrum-Dependent Image Convolutional Processing via a Two-Dimensional Polarization-Sensitive Photodetector.

Currently, the improvement in the processing capacity of traditional processors considerably lags behind the demands of real-time image processing caused by the advancement of photodetectors and the widespread deployment of high-definition image sensors. Therefore, achieving real-time image processing at the sensor level has become a prominent research domain in the field of photodetector technology. This goal underscores the need for photodetectors with enhanced multifunctional integration capabilities than can perform real-time computations using optical or electrical signals. In this study, we employ an innovative p-type semiconductor GaTe0.5Se0.5 to construct a polarization-sensitive wide-spectral photodetector. Leveraging the wide-spectral photoresponse, we realize three-band imaging within a wavelength range of 390-810 nm. Furthermore, real-time image convolutional processing is enabled by configuring appropriate convolution kernels based on the polarization-sensitive photocurrents. The innovative design of the polarization-sensitive wide-spectral GaTe0.5Se0.5-based photodetector represents a notable contribution to the domain of real-time image perception and processing.

Facial vascular visualization enhancement based on optical detection technology.

This study aims to develop a facial vascular enhancement imaging system and analyze vascular distribution in the facial region to assess its potential in preventing unintended intravascular injections during cosmetic facial filling procedures. A facial vascular enhancement imaging system based on optical detection technology was designed, and volunteers were recruited. The system was utilized to detect and analyze vascular distribution in various anatomical regions of the faces. The vascular visualization-enhanced images generated by the system were compared with visible light images to validate the vascular visualization capability of the system. Additionally, the reliability of vascular visualization was assessed by comparing the observed vascular patterns in the vascular visualization-enhanced images with those in near-infrared light images. Thirty volunteers were recruited. The vascular visualization-enhanced images produced by the system demonstrated a significant capacity to identify vascular morphology and yielded a higher vessel count compared to visible light images, particularly in the frontal, orbital, perioral, mental, temporal, cheek, and parotid masseter regions (p < 0.05). The temporal region exhibited the highest vascular density, followed by the cheek region and then the frontal region. Reliability analysis of vascular visualization enhancement indicated that the system's imaging of facial vasculature not only demonstrated reliability but also enhanced physicians' visual perception. Blood vessel distribution varies across facial regions. The facial vascular enhancement imaging system facilitates real-time and clear visualization of facial vasculature, offering immediate visual feedback to surgeons. This innovation holds promise for enhancing the safety and effectiveness of facial filling procedures.

The cognitive roots of multimodal symbolic forms with an analysis of multimodality in movies

Condillac’s (1754) “Traité des sensations” is the philosophical background of modern discussions on the relationship between perception and multimodal communication. The differences between perception and communication and the transitions between them are discussed with a focus on odor and color. It becomes clear that even at this primary level, the complex interactions of different modalities are the precondition for effective and rich communication. The second part discusses Cassirer’s “Philosophy of Symbolic Forms” as a relevant framework for multimodality studies. Basic aspects are first commented on with a focus on music and visual art. The interaction is even more complex and rich in the case of language; the difficulty of large symbolic forms is mainly due to semantic composition and only to a lesser degree to syntactic concatenation. The first must merge/blend different semantic spaces. It must allow for the plurality of levels of integration from the lexical level, the level of phrases and sentences, up to texts and discourse. The third part focuses on multimodality in film. It treats the representation of movement and action in (film) narratives, the visual perception and representation/communication of movement and action, and the integration of music, moving images, and language.

Image Classification Model

Image Classification nowadays is used to narrow the gap between the computer vision and human vision so that the images can be recognized by machines in the same way as we humans do. It deals with assigning the appropriate class for the given image. We therefore propose a system named Image Classification using Deep Learning that classifies the given images using Classifiers like Neural Network. This system will be developed to measure the accuracy of classifying images on GPU (NVIDIA) and CPU. The system will be designed using Python as a Programming Language and Tensorflow for creating neural networks.

Vision-Based Estimation of Force Balance of Near-Suspended Melt Pool for Drooping and Collapsing Prediction

Wire-arc additive manufacturing (WAAM) is favored by the industry for its high material utilization rate and low cost. However, wire-arc additive manufacturing of lattice structures faces problems with forming accuracy such as broken rod and surface morphology defects, which cannot meet the industrial demand. This article innovatively combines the melt pool stress theory with visual perception algorithms to visually study the force balance of the near-suspended melt pool to predict the state of the melt pool. First, the method for melt pool segmentation was studied. The results show that the optimized U-net achieved high accuracy in melt pool segmentation tasks, with accuracies of 98.18%, MIOU 96.64%, and Recall 98.34%. In addition, a method for estimating melt pool force balance and predicting normal, sagging, and collapsing states of the melt pool is proposed. By combining experimental testing with computer vision technology, an analysis of the force balance of the melt pool during the inclined rod forming process was conducted, showing a prediction rate as high as 90% for the testing set. By using this method, monitoring and predicting the state of the melt pool is achieved, preemptively avoiding issues of broken rods during the printing process. This approach can effectively assist in adjusting process parameters and improving welding quality. The application of this method will further promote the development of intelligent unmanned WAAM and provide some references for the development of artificial intelligence monitoring systems in the manufacturing field.

Exploring the differences between landscape colour and perceptive colour when walking through urban green space in summer

Landscape colour influences people’s visual behaviour and preferences. Insufficient exploration has been conducted on people’s colour perception when walking through urban green spaces (UGSs) dominated by green in summer. This study used eye-tracking technology to explore the differences between the visual attention colour (VAC) and space colour (SC), and the effect of spatial form on VAC. Participants were asked to view six walking spaces in two UGSs in Nanjing, China. The results indicated that SC and VAC had correlations in hue variance (yellow), saturation mean, and value variance, but weak correlations in hue mean (green), hue variance (green), and value mean. Additionally, the higher the spatial openness, the more reduction in brightness of the VAC compared to SC. The findings suggest that landscape visual perception studies need to consider the interaction between landscape colour, spatial form, and human top-down visual behaviour to support the design of UGSs.

How should I approach and manage adult-onset oscillopsia?

Oscillopsia is the sensation of illusory movement within the visual percept leading to a degradation of visual functioning and quality of life. The constellation of conditions manifesting with oscillopsia marks the overlap between ophthalmology and otorhinolaryngology. The purpose of this article is therefore to review the aetiologies of oscillopsia and provide pathways for investigation and treatment of processes that associate oscillopsia with intrusive ocular movement and for processes manifesting as oscillopsia in the absence of intrusive ocular movement. Points for referral are also included for the diagnoses that are more appropriately investigated and managed by allied medical specialties.

The Evolution of Simplifying Heuristics in Visual Cognition: Categorization, Specialization, and Visual Illusions.

Animals live in visually complex environments. As a result, visual systems have evolved mechanisms that simplify visual processing and allow animals to focus on the information that is most relevant to adaptive decision making. This review explores two key mechanisms that animals use to efficiently process visual information: categorization and specialization. Categorization occurs when an animal's perceptual system sorts continuously varying stimuli into a set of discrete categories. Specialization occurs when particular classes of stimuli are processed using distinct cognitive operations that are not used for other classes of stimuli. We also describe a nonadaptive consequence of simplifying heuristics: visual illusions, where visual perception consistently misleads the viewer about the state of the external world or objects within it. We take an explicitly comparative approach by exploring similarities and differences in visual cognition across human and nonhuman taxa. Considering areas of convergence and divergence across taxa provides insight into the evolution and function of visual systems and associated perceptual strategies.

Joint super-resolution-based fast face image coding for human and machine vision

Joint super-resolution-based fast face image coding for human and machine vision

Network architecture for single image super‐resolution: A comprehensive review and comparison

AbstractSingle image super‐resolution (SISR) is a promising research direction in computer vision and image processing for improving the visual perception of low‐quality images. In recent years, deep learning algorithms have driven tremendous development in SR, and SR methods based on various network architectures have significantly improved the quality of reconstructed images. Although there has been a large amount of reviews focusing on SISR, few studies have focused specifically on network architectures for SISR. This paper aims to provide a systematic overview of the design ideas of SISR using multiple architectures, including Convolutional Neural Networks (CNN), Generative Adversarial Networks (GAN), Transformer, and Diffusion model. In addition, an experimental analysis and comparison of state‐of‐the‐art SR algorithms have been performed on publicly available quantitative and qualitative datasets. Finally, some future directions are discussed that may help other community researchers.

The Comparison of the Effectiveness and Efficiency of Fine-Tuning Models on Stable Diffusion in Creating Concept Art

This research aims to overcome the limitations of the Stable Diffusion model in creating conceptual works of art, focusing on problem identification, research objectives, methodology and research results. Even though Stable Diffusion has been recognized as the best model, especially in the context of creating conceptual artwork, there is still a need to simplify the process of creating concept art and find the most suitable generative model. This research used three methods: Latent Diffusion Model, Dreambooth: fine-tuning Model, and Stable Diffusion. The research results show that the Dreambooth model produces a more real and realistic painting style, while Textual Inversion tends towards a fantasy and cartoonist style. Although the effectiveness of both is relatively high, with minimal differences, the Dreambooth model is proven to be more effective based on the consistency of FID, PSNR, and visual perception scores. The Dreambooth model is more efficient in training time, even though it requires more memory, while the inference time for both is relatively similar. This research makes a significant contribution to the development of artificial intelligence in the creative industries, opens up opportunities to improve the use of generative models in creating conceptual works of art, and can potentially drive positive change in the use of artificial intelligence in the creative industries more broadly.

Clinical outcomes of a modified ophthalmic viscosurgical device-free implantable collamer lens implantation.

To investigate the efficacy and safety of a modified dual-incision ophthalmic viscosurgical device-free (OVD-free) method for implantable collamer lens (ICL) implantation in high myopic eyes. A total of 68 participants were enrolled in this prospective randomized clinical trial, including 33 in the OVD-free group and 35 in the standard group. Operation time and intraocular pressure (IOP) at 2 hours postoperatively were recorded. Visual acuity, refractive power, IOP, corneal endothelium parameters, and anterior segment parameters were assessed at 1 day, 1 week, 1 month, 3 months, and 6 months postoperatively. Postoperative subjective visual quality at 3 months was recorded through a Quality of Vision (QoV) questionnaire. No significant differences in visual acuity, refractive outcomes, and corneal endothelial parameters were found, while the operation time was significantly shorter in the OVD-free group. Both groups showed a significant increase in IOP at 2 hours after surgery, but the increase in the OVD-free group was significantly smaller than that in the standard group. In addition, the frequency of ring-shaped dysphotopsia in the OVD-free group (15.15%) was significantly lower than that in the standard group (40%), and the severity and annoyance of this symptom were also significantly lower in the OVD-free group. The modified OVD-free ICL implantation is a safe, effective, and predictable method for myopia correction, which could be a better choice for short surgery time, better subjective visual perception, and low occurrence of IOP elevation.

Retinal focal nodular gliosis have varied clinical courses requiring tailored management: a case series

Purpose: Retinal focal nodular gliosis (FNG), also known as vasoproliferative tumors (VPTs), are rare, benign vascular tumors associated with exudation with no current consensus on management. Herein, we describe the varied clinical course and management of three patients with retinal focal nodular gliosis, one of whom is associated with retinitis pigmentosa. Observations: Case 1 is a 76-year-old female who presented with reduced vision and distortion secondary to a vitreous hemorrhage and epiretinal membrane (ERM) as complications of a known small peripheral retinal focal nodular gliosis. She underwent vitrectomy for the hemorrhage to relieve vascular traction and the ERM peel and the tumor was kept under observation. Case 2 is a 24-year-old female with genetically uncharacterized retinitis pigmentosa-like phenotype who presented with gradual loss of central vision in one eye due to cystoid macular oedema (CMO). She was found to have two peripheral retinal areas of focal nodular gliosis located inferonasally. Tumors were treated with cryotherapy and adjuvant intraocular steroid implant to control the CMO. Case 3 is a 28-year-old female with retinitis pigmentosa secondary to genetically confirmed variant in CRB1 gene who presented with intractable right eye cystoid macular oedema and localized inferior serous retinal detachment secondary to a large inferotemporal focal nodular gliosis. Her left eye has no light perception vision due to previous extensive serous retinal detachment and anterior segment ischemia. The right eye tumor was managed with multiple rounds of cryotherapy and laser therapy to control the serous detachment. Despite this, the condition progressed and was ultimately treated with plaque brachytherapy. Unfortunately, this resulted in an extensive retinal inflammation causing annular tractional retinal detachment which was treated with combined pars plana vitrectomy and scleral buckle. Conclusions: We characterized the retinal phenotype of three patients with retinal focal nodular gliosis (vasoproliferative tumors) and found them to have varied clinical courses requiring tailored surgical management. The case associated with retinitis pigmentosa had a known pathogenic variant in Crumbs homolog-1 (CRB1) gene affecting retinal structure and exhibited a more severe clinical course. It is therefore important for patients with retinal dystrophies to undergo thorough peripheral examinations and detect FNG early as they may require prompt, aggressive treatment.

Principal Component Analysis of Cognitive Executive Function: A Predictive Model of Academic Performance of Students in Mathematics in Secondary Schools

There is a growing interest from instructional scientists in using parameters of brain executive functions to unfold cognitive disorders, Mathematical Learning Difficulties (MLD), and assessment of learners’ academic performance. Thus, it is imperative to investigates, extracts and classify the major principal components of learners’ cognitive executive functions that predict academic performance of students in Mathematics and science related courses in secondary schools. An ex post facto quasi-experimental design was adopted for the study. Students’ cognitive profile was measured using a validated and reliable cognitive assessment Battery (CAB) application. There were significant positive correlations between cognitive executive functions and academic performance of students in Mathematics. The major components of the executive functions that accounted for substantial effects on academic performance of students in Mathematics include working memory, conceptual memory, short-term memory, inhibition, updating, focus attention, divided attention, auditory perception, and visual perception. Also, processing speed, shifting, planning, hand-eye coordination and response time accounted for moderate effects on academic performance of students in Mathematics. Consequently, instructors should reinforce learners’ cognitive processes using cognitive retraining programmes, personalized learning, differentiated instructional strategies for exceptional students, and offer therapeutic interventions on the identified cognitive parameters that could reduce extraneous cognitive loads. These could facilitate mental internalization of external perception during instructional delivery and learning.