Magic Circle

Full-horizon cylindrical projections of the optic array are in common use. One wonders whether the public actually profits from such pictorial information, since the space behind one’s back does not exist in visual awareness. In an experiment, a test image included six persons located at the corners...

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Main Authors: Jan Koenderink, Andrea van Doorn, Johan Wagemans
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: SAGE Publishing 2018-05-01
Series:i-Perception
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1177/2041669518770691
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author Jan Koenderink
Andrea van Doorn
Johan Wagemans
author_facet Jan Koenderink
Andrea van Doorn
Johan Wagemans
author_sort Jan Koenderink
collection DOAJ
description Full-horizon cylindrical projections of the optic array are in common use. One wonders whether the public actually profits from such pictorial information, since the space behind one’s back does not exist in visual awareness. In an experiment, a test image included six persons located at the corners of an irregular hexagon centred at the camera. Two persons faced the camera, two turned their back to the camera and two others faced a direction at right angles to the camera. The distances to the camera were unequal and varied from 1 to 2 m. Participants were asked to draw a ground plan of the perceived configuration, including actors and camera, on the basis of viewing the picture. As with any picture there exist many possible interpretations, the ambiguity grows even more when the angular scope of the picture is unknown. Almost all naïve viewers parse this planispheric (Mercator) representation so as to have the whole scene in front of them, with the actors standing in a circle, facing each other. They take the viewpoint to be outside the circle. Only a few placed the viewpoint inside the circle, which is indeed another reasonable interpretation (in this case the actual one).
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spelling doaj.art-a8b9281838cb4b7590d9a0829e4e77fb2022-12-21T19:41:19ZengSAGE Publishingi-Perception2041-66952018-05-01910.1177/2041669518770691Magic CircleJan KoenderinkAndrea van DoornJohan WagemansFull-horizon cylindrical projections of the optic array are in common use. One wonders whether the public actually profits from such pictorial information, since the space behind one’s back does not exist in visual awareness. In an experiment, a test image included six persons located at the corners of an irregular hexagon centred at the camera. Two persons faced the camera, two turned their back to the camera and two others faced a direction at right angles to the camera. The distances to the camera were unequal and varied from 1 to 2 m. Participants were asked to draw a ground plan of the perceived configuration, including actors and camera, on the basis of viewing the picture. As with any picture there exist many possible interpretations, the ambiguity grows even more when the angular scope of the picture is unknown. Almost all naïve viewers parse this planispheric (Mercator) representation so as to have the whole scene in front of them, with the actors standing in a circle, facing each other. They take the viewpoint to be outside the circle. Only a few placed the viewpoint inside the circle, which is indeed another reasonable interpretation (in this case the actual one).https://doi.org/10.1177/2041669518770691
spellingShingle Jan Koenderink
Andrea van Doorn
Johan Wagemans
Magic Circle
i-Perception
title Magic Circle
title_full Magic Circle
title_fullStr Magic Circle
title_full_unstemmed Magic Circle
title_short Magic Circle
title_sort magic circle
url https://doi.org/10.1177/2041669518770691
work_keys_str_mv AT jankoenderink magiccircle
AT andreavandoorn magiccircle
AT johanwagemans magiccircle