Judgment, interpretation and impression of gaze direction in an Ukiyo-e picture

Abstract

We examined the judgment, interpretation and impression of gaze directions of figures5 in an Ukiyo-e picture and its compositional variations. In those pictures, figures' gaze directions were ambiguous because of their eyes drawn by thin lines (Hiki-me). Observers had to judge gaze directions of the figures by cues other than the positions of pupils. The results showed that gaze directions of the figures were judged as a result of information integration of the natural cues of gaze directions and contextual cues in the scene. The object that was paid attention to by the figures as well as the head directions and compositional arrangements of the figures affected the judgment of gaze directions. We especially noted the composition of the figures viewing the object together side-by-side. In this composition, the judgment of gaze direction and the impression of a figure dramatically changed depending on the presence or absence of the commonly viewed object by the figures. We will discuss the results from the point of view of attention allocation and information integration as well as sociocultural background.