Masanori IDESAWA

UEC Museum of Communications, UEC Tokyo: The University of Electro-Communications, 1-5-1 Chofugaoka, Chofu, Tokyo 182-8585, Japan

(Received July 1, 2010; Accepted September 14, 2010)

A potential model to explain the phenomenon of illusory motion perception in still figures is proposed. By considering the isotropic spatial filtering process with time varying factor and visual reset, almost all of the features of this illusion can be simulated successfully as a physical system. It is considered that the system composed of an isotropic spatial filter and the visual reset is physiologically plausible and a similar mechanism is expected in the human visual system; the proposed model can provide new insights that can contribute to revealing the mechanism of the illusion and to elucidating the human visual system.

Key words: illusory motion, asymmetric luminance distribution, spatial filtering, neuronal filtering, lateral inhibition, time varying factor, visual reset, imaging system, perception system, visual velocity threshold