The Image-Interface

1Describing Images

This chapter explores relevant insights about the study of images that have been forged within the sciences, humanities, and media studies traditions. Although this book is not about interpreting images, it does take into account research that focuses on material and technological descriptions of images. This is important because we will identify levels of analysis and methodology which in other chapters will be used as strategies to design and produce visual interfaces. In this respect, a brief discussion regarding the notion of interface is also contemplated.

1.1. Light, visual perception and visual imagery

Where do images come from? Where do they take place? Before images are printed or displayed on a computer screen, they are physical and psychological phenomena. A brief account of the processes underlying the formation of images will illuminate the perceptual and cognitive approaches that will inform further sections of this book.

On the one hand, visual perception puts attention on the physical and material aspect of vision. It occurs in the eye and its organic layers. The physical explanation of vision starts when light stimulates the retina. From there, different photoreceptor cells, mainly rods and cones, process signals and send information to the region of the brain called the primary visual cortex. On the other hand, visual imagery is related to mental experiences of representation and simulation; it occurs in the brain. Henceforth, the explanation ...