Reflection overlay as a potential tool for separating real images from virtual images in photographs of architecture

Abstract

The perception of transparency in architecture poses a major cognitive challenge due to the nearly faultless quality of large-scale light-permeable materials. Previous experiments demonstrated the significance of the virtual image in the perception of light-permeable materials. The separation of this image in photographs of architecture proved crucial in the research, giving the freedom to manipulate independently the components of the perceived scene. In the paper the author presents a new methodology of separating and manipulating real and virtual images, which is based on real-life photographs, not computer-generated scenes. The paper also proposes a step-by-step image processing algorithm which helps to better understand the cognitive processes of the human visual system, and presents sample results of this method. © 2014 Springer International Publishing.