IF Oxford 2024: Lines of Vision
22 August 2024
Discover the Cover Art
The IF Oxford 2024 Programme cover features an image of the Earth generated using an innovative technique by Akiyoshi Kitaoka. Despite its significant distortion, the image feels familiar, revealing landmasses like Greenland, Africa, and the UK when viewed from a distance, emerging from parallel lines of colour blocks.
About IF Oxford
IF Oxford brings together science, creativity and information, exploring ideas beyond the immediate horizon. This year’s event lineup is designed to be enjoyable and educational, featuring a special exhibition of Japanese optical illusion hand fans.
Meet Akiyoshi Kitaoka
Professor Akiyoshi Kitaoka from Ritsumeikan University in Japan is renowned for his groundbreaking optical illusions. His captivating designs, such as the artwork for Lady Gaga’s 2013 album ARTPOP created by Jeff Koons, highlight the fascinating field of perceptual psychology.
Exhibition Details
In 2024, IF Oxford partnered with a Japanese artisanal manufacturer and Professor Kitaoka to present a captivating exhibition that blends culture, science and art. Featuring 15 designs, the exhibition will be simultaneously displayed at various venues throughout the 2024 Oxford science and ideas Festival in October, including:
– Grassroots on Woodstock Road
– Oxford Centre for Innovation on New Road
– Various Oxfordshire libraries, including Oxford Westgate, Summertown, Bicester, Wantage, Blackbird Leys and Didcot Libraries. Explore books on topics like Japanese culture, human biology, psychology, craft manufacturing and product design at your local library.
Uchiwa science: optical illusions exhibitions
Please enjoy: share your optical illusion photos and tag @oxford_if
Innovative Earth Image Technique
Professor Kitaoka used a new parallel colour mixing technique for this year’s Festival image. By applying Ostwald’s surface colour system, colours are arranged vertically and horizontally to create a dynamic effect that reveals the Earth’s image when viewed from a distance.
The resolution of parallel mixing can be varied to create pictures that are either more abstract, or closer in appearance to an original image.
Understanding Colour Theories
Colour models represent real-world objects in different formats: CMYK for printing and RGB for digital screens. CMYK uses cyan, magenta, yellow and black inks, while RGB mixes red, green, and blue light. These models create images through precise colour variations and pixel arrangements.
Ostwald Color System and Parallel Mixing
The Ostwald Color System combines single colours with white and black to produce a range of shades. Parallel mixing places colours in parallel, allowing observers to perceive detailed images through low-resolution barcode pixels. This technique can make images appear abstract up close, but clearer from a distance.
In the example of a blue car on a green background, the clear photo (left image) can be reproduced with low-resolution aggregated square pixels (middle image.) The colour, black and white elements of these pixels then be reorganised into sedimentary pixel layers with white at the bottom and black at the top (right image.) In one sense, the image looks more abstract, but at a distance the fidelity of the image appears to be increased compared with the middle low-fi rendering. See how the blue-grey and green portions of the image are processed with Ostwald Color System and Parallel Mixing.
For an in-depth look at parallel mixing and Ostwald’s surface colour system, visit: https://www.psy.ritsumei.ac.jp/akitaoka/shikisai2024.html
The Science of Optical Illusions
Research into optical illusions began in Europe in the 19th century and gained momentum in Japan by the mid-20th century. These illusions, perceived only by the mind, significantly contribute to vision science and perceptual psychology. They explore how the brain processes visual information, revealing insights into human perception shaped by evolution and culture. (Click to enlarge images.)
