Visual Psychophysics / Physiological Optics - ARVO

ARVO 2013 Annual Meeting Abstracts by Scientific Section/Group – Visual Psychophysics / Physiological OpticsLaser Eye Protection and Visibility of Multi-Function DisplaysMartin LaFrance 1 , Craig A. Williamson 2 , Leedjia Svec 3 , ThomasKuyk 1 . 1 Air Force Research Laboratory, Fort Sam Houston, TX;2 Defence Science and Technology Laboratory, Salisbury, UnitedKingdom; 3 Defense Equal Opportunity Management Institute, PatrickAFB, FL.Purpose: Handheld lasers have become commonplace, examplesinclude laser games and hobbyist targeting devices. Unfortunatelythese lasers are at times used maliciously against commercial aircraft.Misuse has risen at an alarming pace with the Federal AviationAdministration reporting 3500+ events in 2011 alone; thus, laser eyeprotection (LEP) for aircrew is a growing concern.Aircrew LEP requires careful consideration for integration withavionics and multifunction displays (MFD) which are heavilydependent upon the accurate perception of color. The perception ofcolor, mediated by cone photoreceptors, is altered by conventionalLEP due to incongruent impact upon short, medium and longwavelengthsensitive cones. The objective of this study is to comparea color-balanced LEP design, one which preserves the weighting ofspectral transmission to cone subtypes, with conventional LEP ontests of color discrimination used as predictors of MFD integrationand user acceptance.Methods: 15 color-normal subjects completed color identificationtasks with the Farnsworth Munsell-100 and an 8-hue simulated MFDcolor identification test without and with a color-balanced LEP and aluminance matched neutral density (ND) filter. Results werecompared to predictive models of color identification errors (E94,Color-Zone Border Analysis and ΔEu’v’) and like data collectedpreviously for two conventional LEP.Results: FM-100 total error scores exceeded 80 for conventional andcolor-balanced LEP designs, the threshold for impaireddiscrimination, and were significantly higher than null and ND filterconditions. Color identification was markedly improved on the 8-hueMFD test for the color-balanced design vs. conventional LEP,statistically outperforming on five hues and producing a minordecrement for one. Global error rate across 8 hues was ~40% forconventional designs and 7% for cone-balanced. E94 calculationswere ~10 for conventional vs. 8 for the cone balanced LEP designalso predicting improved hue discrimination.Conclusions: A color-balanced LEP design demonstrates betterintegration for key multi-function display hues when compare withconventional LEP. Both conventional and color-balanced LEP, byvirtue of selectively blocked wavelengths, produce higher total errorscores with the Farnsworth Munsell-100; however, this test may notbe the best predictor of user acceptance for LEP in cockpitintegration.Commercial Relationships: Martin LaFrance, None; Craig A.Williamson, None; Leedjia Svec, None; Thomas Kuyk, NoneProgram Number: 3029 Poster Board Number: C0192Presentation Time: 8:30 AM - 10:15 AMChromatic components in underwater targets do not affect Greatcormorants’ (Phalacrocorax carbo) visual resolutionGadi Katzir 1, 2 , Ruth Almon 1 , Ido Izhaki 1 . 1 Evolutionary andEnvironmental Biology, University of Haifa, Haifa, Israel; 2 MarineBiology, University of Haifa, Haifa, Israel.Purpose: The negative effects of scatter and absorption of light onimage formation impair vision underwater. Because scatter andabsorption are wavelength dependent, it is expected that visualresolution for targets with different chromatic components, willdiffer. Great cormorants pursue prey (fish) underwater, facing visualconstraints in their frequent transitions between air and water. Visualresolution of cormorants for achromatic targets has been previouslyestablished yet the effects of chromatic components have remainedopen.We aimed here to determine the underwater visual resolution ofcormorants for square wave gratings comprising chromatic andachromatic components.Methods: Hand-reared Great cormorants (N=6) were trained andtested for their resolution, in an underwater Y-maze. The visualtargets comprised square-wave gratings that were achromatic (black& white) or chromatic (black & color). Colors ranged from “reds”through “yellow greens” to “blues”. Targets with vertically orientedbars were “positive” and targets with horizontally oriented bars were“negative”. Gratings ranged from 1.4 to 12 cpd. Illumination wasdiffuse daylight and water turbidity ranged 0.3-5.6 NTU. Thecormorants’ choice was made at 1.4m from the targets. Eachindividual provided results from ca. 30 tests on chromatic and ca. 7tests on achromatic gratings. The proportion of correct choices wasused to determine resolution (at p=0.75 level).Results: Over all cormorants (grouped) the mean maximalunderwater visual resolution for achromatic and chromatic gratingswas ca. 8cpd. Resolution for achromatic gratings was consistentlyhigher than for chromatic gratings yet the difference was notsignificant. Chromatic components did not have a significant effectwhile the effects of gratings frequency and of individual differenceson resolution were significant. Individuals showing high resolutionreached 6.1-12.2 cpd while individuals showing low resolutionreached 3.0 - 4.0 cpd.Conclusions: Under the experimental conditions here, the chromaticcomponents in the targets did not affect visual resolution. It may wellindicate that color patterns of fishes, such as alternating black andchromatic bars, may not significantly affect their detection byforaging cormorants. Marked and consistent individual differences invisual resolution must play a role in prey detection and capturesuccess.Commercial Relationships: Gadi Katzir, None; Ruth Almon,None; Ido Izhaki, NoneSupport: Israel Science Foundation - ISFProgram Number: 3030 Poster Board Number: C0193Presentation Time: 8:30 AM - 10:15 AMHigh Throughput Behavioral Estimates of Visual Thresholds inMice in a Watermaze with Cued Escape PlatformArkady Lyubarsky, Muhammad Sheheryar Khan, Meera Sivalingam,Jean Bennett. F.M. Kirby Center for Molecular Ophthalmology,School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA.Purpose: To develop a quantitative, sensitive, cost-effective, noninvasivebehavioral technique for evaluation of vision in mice withemphasis on its suitability for the end point characterization in genetherapy of retinal diseases.Methods: The apparatus was a round (1.2 m diameter and 0.7 mhigh) tub made of a dark blue plastic, and filled with water to a 20 cmdepth with a single submerged escape platform (8 cm diameter). Aplastic 20 cm high pole covered with a disposable aluminum foilsleeve and standing at the platform center served as a visual cueassisting animals in finding the platform. Four infrared sourcesprovided a uniform, invisible for mice, illumination of the tub, and avideo camera with an infrared filter was recording animal’s moves.Four regulated visible light sources provided uniform illuminationinside the apparatus in a 1E-5 to 1E+2 scot cd m -2 range. Wild-type(WT) and neural retina leucine zipper (NRL) knock-out (KO) micelacking rod photoreceptors were trained to escape to the platform atthe brightest level of illumination, and then were tested at 0.5 - 0.8log-unit decrements of the illumination intensity. To determine thethreshold, we first evaluated the probability of reaching the platform©2013, Copyright by the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology, Inc., all rights reserved. Go to iovs.org to access the version of record. For permissionto reproduce any abstract, contact the ARVO Office at arvo@arvo.org.