The Effects of Changing Sharpness in an Image: Continuing with a Visual Illusion Experiment – Part 5

In the visual illusion experiment – I started with an established visual illusion and attempted to deconstruct and then reconstruct the same type of illusion (albeit with limited success). I’ve then tried to vary different aspects of the image to see if this has any effect. Continuing with the visual illusion experiment, I’ve altered the sharpness to see what effects if any it had on the perception of the resulting image. The images are labelled in the video. The process of sharpening the image increases the change in brightness at boundaries. There are two effects to be seen (see previous posts for a more detailed explanation)

(1) The edge effect. Viewed at rest the circumference consisting of alternating black and white segments can produce a movement effect.

(2) The shifting colour effect: If you look at the shaded circle, the movement is associated with an apparent shift in the colour at certain points whereas the actual shading/object remains unchanged (this can be verified by visual inspecting the image when it is paused).

The reader can inspect the above video. By simply sharpening the image I didn’t notice any difference in the second effect. However the circumference of the circle is much easier to make out when the object is moving. Nevertheless this doesn’t significantly alter the effect and I would conclude that sharpening the image is ineffective in producing new visual phenomenon in this case at least.

Appendix

Part 4

Part 3

Part 2

Part 1

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