Path: utzoo!censor!geac!torsqnt!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!usc!jarthur!ucivax!honig
From: honig@ics.uci.edu (David Honig)
Newsgroups: comp.graphics
Subject: Re: Psycho Graphics (was: Subjective Graphics)
Summary: visual psychophysics
Keywords: perception,subjective reality,adaptive rendering
Message-ID: <27B9DF69.11406@ics.uci.edu>
Date: 14 Feb 91 00:52:57 GMT
References: <1991Feb1.082556.8553@agate.berkeley.edu> <2899@charon.cwi.nl> <1991Feb7.093627.3734@santra.uucp>
Reply-To: honig@ics.uci.edu (David Honig)
Organization: UC Irvine Department of ICS
Lines: 26

In article <1991Feb7.093627.3734@santra.uucp> raisa@hila.hut.fi (Olli R{is{) writes:
>In article <2899@charon.cwi.nl> edwin@cwi.nl (Edwin Blake) writes:
>
>>   I think we need a new catch phrase: Subjective Graphics (!), to emphasize
>> the human orientation of the subject.
>
>I prefer "Psycho Graphics". Are there any other suggestions? 
>(It may be better to discuss the terminology well in advance
> than to suffer from bad mistakes, such as "distributed ray
> tracing", in the future :-) )

The term "psychophysics" refers to the objective study of "subjective"
perception ---e.g., the sensitivity of the eye to luminance, color, motion,
etc.  The term is about a century old.  The term can easily accomodate
the measurement of more complex perceptual functions.

Indeed, established psychophysics (from the sensory psychology area) has
been used by computer graphicists et al. ---e.g., the MTF of the human
eye tells you that you don't need as many bits for higher or lower spatial
frequencies.  (Of course, the MTF shifts as luminance varies, its not
linear you know....)

-- 
David Honig
"Tyranny and despotism can be excercised by  many, more rigorously,
more vigorously, and more severely than by one." ---Andrew Jackson