Fundamentals of Psychophysics
Instructor: James Ferwerda, Rochester Institute of Technology
Level: Intermediate
Duration: 2 Hours
Course Time: 
     New York: 25 October 2021, 18:30 -20:45
     Paris: 26 October 2021, 0:30 -02:45
     Tokyo: 25 October 2021, 07:30 - 09:45

Course Prerequisites: A basic level understanding of issues in color and imaging science, engineering, and statistics. No specific knowledge of perception psychology is required. All relevant concepts are introduced in the class.

Benefits:
Attendees will be able to:

• Identify the major techniques for measuring perceptual thresholds and scales.
• Design perception experiments using these techniques.
• Analyze the data from these experiments to derive perceptual metrics.
• Apply these metrics to practical problems in color imaging.

Course Description
Psychophysical methods from experimental psychology can be used to quantify the relationships between the physical properties of the world and the qualities people perceive. The results of psychophysical experiments can be used to create models of human perception that can guide the development of effective color imaging algorithms and enabling interfaces. This course provides an introduction to the theory and practice of psychophysics and teaches attendees how to develop experiments that can be used to advance color imaging research and applications. Hands-on examples are used throughout so that attendees understand how to design and run their own experiments, analyze the results, and develop perceptually-based algorithms and applications.

Intended Audience: students and professionals who want to be able to interpret the results of perception psychology experiments and develop their own perception studies.

James A. Ferwerda is an associate professor and the Xerox Chair in the Chester F. Carlson Center for Imaging Science at the Rochester Institute of Technology. He received a BA in psychology, MS in computer graphics, and a PhD in experimental psychology, all from Cornell University. The focus of his research is on building computational models of human vision from psychophysical experiments and developing advanced imaging systems based on these models.

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