A method for performing colour constancy studies using a tablet computer

Presented at ECVP 2017, Berlin.

Abstract:

A method for exploring colour constancy in real world environments has been developed, which uses a handheld tablet computer and successive presentation of isoluminant planes through CIELUV space, varying in spatial offset and orientation. The observer was required to select an achromatic point within each stimulus, and from their selection an estimation of their state of chromatic adaptation was acquired.

Aside from being suitable for real world environments, the technique may also be valuable as a method for assessing colour constancy quickly in large numbers of members of the public and, also due to the simplicity of the task and the familiarity of the apparatus, it allows for a broader demographic range of observers than are generally available for such experiments.

At AIC 2016 preliminary data was presented (Garside et. al, AIC 2016) based on experiments in the Grant Museum of Zoology where this technique was originally trialled, with the aim of understanding inherent observer variability, and deciding upon a recommended number of repeats for such an experiment. The derived number of repeats was 30, but it was decided that an environment with more constant and controlled lighting was required to more fully understand inter-observer variability.

Here, two new data sets will be considered; the first collected at various locations within the British Museum, with the aim of more comprehensively exploring inter-observer variability; and the second collected in the controlled environment of the PAMELA research laboratory at UCL, where the acuity of this system, and inter-observer variability was explored.