Abstract
Vision evolved to function in the natural world, but that does not mean that we need to use images of that world to study vision. Synthetic stimuli designed to test hypotheses about visual encoding and representation (e.g. lines, edges, gratings, random dot kinematograms and stereograms, textures with controlled statistics have given us a clear picture of many specific visual mechanisms, and allow principled tests of theories of visual function. What more could a reasonable person want?
Meeting abstract presented at VSS 2016