Visual Discomfort and Variations in Chromaticity in Art and Nature.

Penacchio, Olivier and Haigh, Sarah M and Ross, Xortia and Ferguson, Rebecca and Wilkins, Arnold J (2021) 'Visual Discomfort and Variations in Chromaticity in Art and Nature.' Frontiers in Neuroscience, 15. 711064-. ISSN 1662-453X

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Official URL: https://doi.org/10.3389/fnins.2021.711064

Abstract

Visual discomfort is related to the statistical regularity of visual images. The contribution of luminance contrast to visual discomfort is well understood and can be framed in terms of a theory of efficient coding of natural stimuli, and linked to metabolic demand. While color is important in our interaction with nature, the effect of color on visual discomfort has received less attention. In this study, we build on the established association between visual discomfort and differences in chromaticity across space. We average the local differences in chromaticity in an image and show that this average is a good predictor of visual discomfort from the image. It accounts for part of the variance left unexplained by variations in luminance. We show that the local chromaticity difference in uncomfortable stimuli is high compared to that typical in natural scenes, except in particular infrequent conditions such as the arrangement of colorful fruits against foliage. Overall, our study discloses a new link between visual ecology and discomfort whereby discomfort arises when adaptive perceptual mechanisms are overstimulated by specific classes of stimuli rarely found in nature.

Item Type:	Article
Uncontrolled Keywords:	visual discomfort, efficient coding, natural scenes, image statistics, color, chromaticity difference, hypermetabolism
Divisions:	Faculty of Science and Health Faculty of Science and Health > Psychology, Department of
SWORD Depositor:	Elements
Depositing User:	Elements
Date Deposited:	25 Feb 2022 15:53
Last Modified:	25 Feb 2022 15:57
URI:	http://repository.essex.ac.uk/id/eprint/32417

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