Visual Intelligence: How We Create What We See - Hardcover

Hoffman, Donald David

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0393046699 ISBN 13: 9780393046694

Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company, 1998

Synopsis

A unique, illustrated popular study reveals the way the human eye acts on the visual world not just to represent but to create the things we see, outlining the rules of vision and their application in art and technology.

About this title

About the Author

Donald D. Hoffman is professor of cognitive science, philosophy, and computer science at the University of California, Irvine.

Reviews

A cognitive scientist synthesizes recent findings of vision researchers to unveil some of the secrets and explore still-unsolved puzzles of how we see. Hoffman (Univ. of Calif., Irvine) argues that children are born with innate rules of universal vision just as Noam Chomsky has argued for innate rules of universal grammar. These inborn rules of vision allow children to acquire, through visual experience, rules of visual processing by which the child constructs, in a multiplicity of stages, visual scenes. The first 20 of these rules, as spelled out here, have to do with seeing shapes. Rule 1, for example, is ``Always interpret a straight line in an image as a straight line in 3D.'' Next are eight rules for color and seven rules for motion. These are illustrated with line drawings and photographs - 120 in black-and-white and 30 in color - that draw the reader into participating in his demonstrations. The problem of showing motion is neatly solved by Hoffman: he directs readers to his Web site, where all the motion displays discussed here can be viewed. Like V.S. Ramachandran (Phantoms in the Brain, p. 1096), Hoffman draws on patients with pertinent brain anomalies to explain normal visual intelligence. Also like Ramachandran, he uses phantom limbs to explore briefly the sense of touch, for Hoffman is persuaded that the brain constructs not only what is seen, but also what is felt, heard, smelled, and tasted. He closes with a venture into the world of virtual reality that inspires a series of probing questions into the relationship between what we see relationally (i.e., what we interact with) and what we see phenomenally (i.e., what the visual intelligence constructs). With its many fascinating visual demonstrations, Hoffman's presentation fully engages the reader, demanding and rewarding attention. -- Copyright ©1998, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

With wit, insight and charm, Hoffman, University of California, Irvine professor of computer science, cognitive science and philosophy, explains in this spectacular volume how we use vision to construct the world around us. Hoffman does a masterful job of demonstrating that vision encompasses so much more than merely what we see, and of illustrating that much of what we see may not, in fact, exist. Presenting the 35 rules of vision that scientists claim we use to piece together our environment ("Rule 1. Always interpret a straight line in an image as a straight line in 3D"), he analyzes many common optical illusions, explains how we perceive motion, color and depth, and philosophizes about the nature of reality and perception. Throughout, Hoffman makes wonderful use of myriad photographs to demonstrate the points he is making. The photos in the chapter on motion fail, necessarily, to catch the imagination the way the others do, but an ancillary Web site allows observation of the full motion of his examples. Not only is this book an outstanding example of creative popular science but, given the many optical illusions it presents, it's also the rare book that, in line with its subject, can be thoroughly enjoyed both right side up and upside down. Twenty color and 130 b&w illustrations. Agents: Katinka Matson and John Brockman.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Awkward though it be to accept Hoffman's case, it seems that vision is not what it appears to be. He argues that the brain, via the eyes, doesn't see what is "really" in a scene being viewed but rather constructs one image from "countless possible interpretations" from the scene gathered at the retina. To support this counter-experiential proposition, Hoffman diagrams circles, cubes, triangles, and more. He asks the reader to invert or rotate the book, and voila, the figure becomes the opposite of its first impression. Explaining why the brain does this, Hoffman adduces 35 innate rules it follows that guide its decisions on shape, color, motion, and depth. In pauses between his explications of the rules, Hoffman refutes likely objections, a typical one being, If I and everybody else see object A, then none of us "construct" it; therefore it has a real existence. Instead of being demoralized by Hoffman's dismantlement of such assumptions, one becomes enlightened by a part of one's intelligence that works hard without conscious awareness. Popular and nontechnical. Gilbert Taylor

Stuffing his book full of illusions and visual tricks, cognitive science professor Hoffman solidly details how humans construct what they perceive with their eyes into an understandable reality. The many illustrations propel the curious reader through the book, and a website offers additional illustrations that require motion. Writing in an informal style that occasionally strays into pithiness, the author details the "grammar" of vision, or the rules that govern what you see. His text includes heavy philosophy and cognitive theory, but the casual reader is served entertaining examples from pop culture. Some might quibble with defining the ability to see, nearly universal among humans, as an intelligence, but the book will convince everyone that the human brain is an amazing thing. For larger science collections.?Kelly Hensley, East Tennessee State Univ. Lib., Johnson City
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Edition details

• Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
• Publication date: 1998
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0393046699
• ISBN 13: 9780393046694
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 320