Handbook of Machine and Computer Vision, 2nd Edition

Chapter 1Processing of Information in the Human Visual System

Frank Schaeffel

Sektion für Neurobiologie des Auges, Forschungsinstitut für Augenheilkunde, Universitätsklinikum Tübingen, Calwerstrasse 7/1, 72076 Tübingen, Germany

1.1 Preface

To gather as much necessary information as possible of the visual world, and neglect as much unnecessary information as possible, the visual system has undergone an impressive optimization in the course of evolution, which is fascinating in each detail that is examined. A few aspects will be described in this chapter. Similar limitations may exist in machine vision, and comparisons to the solutions developed in the visual system in the course of 5 billion years of evolution might provide some insights.

1.2 Design and Structure of the Eye

As in any camera, the first step in vision is the projection of the visual scene on an array of photodetectors. In the vertebrate camera eye, this is achieved by the cornea and lens in the eye (Figure 1.1) which transmit the light in the visible part of the spectrum, 400–, by 60–. Another 20– is lost as a result of scattering in the ocular media. Only about is finally absorbed by the photoreceptor pigment [1]. ...