Blue-Black or White-Gold? Early Stage Processing and the Color of 'The Dress'

Abstract

PurposeIn Feb 2015 an image of a dress posted on Tumblr triggered an internet phenomenon: Is the Dress blue and black (BB) or white and gold (WG)? Many claim BB and others insist WG while the true colors are BB. The prevailing theory is that assumptions about the illuminant govern perception of the Dress with WG due to bluish lighting and BB due to yellowish. Our purpose was to determine if early stage optical, retinal and/or neural factors also impact perception of the Dress.MethodsThirty-nine subjects were categorized as BB or WG based on their initial perception of the Dress and their perception reported when viewing the Dress on iPhone 5, iPad, and 22” LCD displays. Macular pigment optical density (MPOD) measured with the QuantifEye™ MPS II and visual brainwaves (VEPs) in response to brief presentations of a transparency of the Dress illuminated by a flashing light were measured on each subject and compared between BB and WG groups. Additionally, CIE chromaticity (color) and luminance (brightness) were measured from multiple areas of the Dress image to determine cone stimulation and contrast.ResultsMean MPOD was higher in the WG group (0.49) vs. the BB (0.41, p = 0.04) and median values were higher as well (WG = 0.46, BB = 0.36, p = 0.03). There was no difference in VEP amplitude between groups (p > 0.85) but mean VEP latency was longer in WG (130 msec.) vs. the BB group (107 msec., p = 0.0005). Colorimetry of the Dress showed significantly greater stimulation of blue cones (contrast = 73%) vs. red and green sensitive cones (contrast = 13%).ConclusionsOur findings indicate that observers with denser MPOD may be predisposed to perceive the Dress as WG due to great absorption of blue light by the macular pigment. Moreover, the novel, substantial stimulation of blue cones by the Dress may contribute to ambiguity and dichotomous perception since the blue cones are so sparse in the retina. Finally, the delayed WG VEPs indicate distinct neural processing in perception of the consistent with fMRI evidence that the WG percept is processed at higher cortical levels than the BB. These results do not fully explain the dichotomous perception of the Dress but do exemplify the need to consider early stage processing when elucidating ambiguous percepts and figures.

Neural correlates of perceptual color inferences as revealed by #thedress

“…Additionally, in our data, variability in the asymmetric modulations to green-red stimuli also occurs across observers, but is unlikely to be correlated with the (negligible) differences in the relative perceptual salience of the red and green hues. As noted, one previous study investigating neural markers of perception of the dress found small group-level differences in early-stage cortical processing (Rabin et al, 2016). Here, stimulus sets were balanced for precortical color signals, such that while other early-level processes might contribute to the percepts, they are unlikely to be the primary factor.…”

“…This effect was interpreted as modulation of the percepts by top-down, post-perceptual processes. Other studies have pointed instead at low-level visual influences, such as spectral sensitivity differences from variations in macular pigment density (Rabin et al, 2016) or normal variations in pupil diameter (Vemuri et al, 2016). In this vein, neural correlates of visual evoked potential waveforms at a single medial-occipital electrode with differences in perception of the dress were reported (Rabin et al, 2016), although these low-level findings were not reliable at the individual participant level.…”

Illumination assumptions account for individual differences in the perceptual interpretation of a profoundly ambiguous stimulus in the color domain: “The dress”

“…In principle, this variation could be due to low-level (individual differences in the sensory apparatus itself) or high-level (individual differences in feedback to the visual system) factors or both. One attempt to explain individual differences in terms of low-level effects was provided by Rabin, Houser, Talbert, and Patel (2016). They measured the macular pigment optical density (MPOD) and related it to the subjective experience of the color of the dress stimulus.…”

Motion of glossy objects does not promote separation of lighting and surface colour

“…The results of the two studies show a large variation in performance on this task between individuals. Other researchers have also found individual differences in performance in lightness constancy experiments [ 37 ], colour constancy [ 53 , 54 , 55 ] and gloss perception [ 26 ].…”