Alan Stocker, 9/12/03
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Probing human visual motion perception - an optimal estimate of 
speed?
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abstract: the perception of visual speed is affected by contrast. 
reducing the
contrast of a moving stimulus reduces its perceived speed. while this 
finding puzzled
researcher for quite a while (and still does) only recent models could 
provide a coherent
qualitative explanation of many of  the reported psychophysical data. 
these models
commonly assume the percepts as the estimate of an ideal observer with a 
bias to
slow speeds. what is missing in order to further consolidate the 
validity of these models is, however,
a more quantitative analysis and verification. also potential neural 
implementations need to
be addressed. i will present and discuss our thoughts and considerations 
on above
questions. i will also outline appropriate psychophysical experiments 
which are currently
in preparation. with respect to the early stage of the work i would like 
to keep the talk as interactive
as possible.