Details of Grant 

EPSRC Reference:	EP/H033955/1
Title:	Efficiency of Visual Statistics
Principal Investigator:	Solomon, Professor JA
Other Investigators:	Morgan, Professor M
Researcher Co-Investigators:
Project Partners:
Department:	School of Health Sciences
Organisation:	City, University of London
Scheme:	Standard Research
Starts:	14 February 2011	Ends:	13 February 2014	Value (£):	432,942
EPSRC Research Topic Classifications:	Vision & Senses - ICT appl.
EPSRC Industrial Sector Classifications:	Information Technologies
Related Grants:
Panel History:	Panel Date Panel Name Outcome 16 Mar 2010 ICT Prioritisation Panel (March 10) Announced
Summary on Grant Application Form
The merest glance is usually sufficient for an observer to get the gist of a scene. That is because the visual system statistically summarises its input. For example, the observer may infer a forest scene if there are significantly more than 20 trees in the picture. If most of those trees aren't within a few degrees of vertical, the observer may infer that the camera was tilted. Our interest is primarily the efficiencies with which statistics like these are calculated. For example, how many trees can the observer use to estimate camera angle? Certain pictorial details are also inaccessible when observers do not look directly at an object. Like brief glimpses, our peripheral vision is often merely statistical. We will compare the efficiencies with which central and peripheral vision are capable of computing various image statistics, like orientation, position, and size. We will also investigate claims of greater efficiency for noticing differences in humanoid images. In fact, we now know that the visual system tends to exaggerate image differences. Happy or dark faces can appear less happy or dark, when surrounded by even happier or darker ones. We will test how well the amount of exaggeration can be predicted by visibility of the difference. To insulate our results from bias, we will focus on pictorial differences that cannot be so easily described.
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Organisation Website:	http://www.city.ac.uk