CSC 620: Image Analysis & pattern Recognition Summer-2013

Assignment 00

Write a report (5-10 A4 size pages) on the different vision systems available in nature compare with human visual system. You should consider altheas few different types of visual systems: for example very low light sensitive (Owl), long distance viewing capacity (falcons), short vision capacity (insects).

The visual system is the part of the central nervous system which gives organisms the ability to process visual detail, as well as enabling the formation of several non-image photo response functions. It detects and interprets information from visible light to build a representation of the surrounding environment. The visual system carries out a number of complex tasks, including the reception of light and the formation of monocular representations; the buildup of a binocular perception from a pair of two dimensional projections; the identification and categorization of visual objects; assessing distances to and between objects; and guiding body movements in relation to visual objects. A biological vision system can be divided into three major parts: 1. The eye, that part which receives the visible energy input and converts it to an electrical signal that the animal's nervous system can work with; 2. The optic nerve, which transmits the coded signals to the central nervous system; 3. The brain, which interprets the vision signals, integrates them with other processes such as cognitive and motor, and produces behaviors. 4. The action of the eye is to focus an image onto the retina. This is the "image plane." If the eye were a digital camera, this is where the ccd chip would be. If it were an analog camera, this is where we would place the film. The retina, covering a bit more than the back half of the spherical eyeball, is clearly not a plane. It should really be called the "image hemisphere" rather than the "image plane." In order to be focused onto the retina, lightrays in any system other than a pinhole camera must be bent. An image is said to be focused when all the light radiating from a given point (x,y,z) in world cords irradiates only a single point (u,v) on the image plane (or image hemisphere in the case of the eye). In the eye, this focusing function is done by the cornea and anterior chamber (where the aqueous humor is) and the lens. Together they form a multielement or compound lens. Different species are able to see different parts of the light spectrum; for example, bees can see into the ultraviolet, while pit vipers can accurately target prey with their pit organs, which are

CSC 620: Image Analysis & pattern Recognition Summer-2013

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sensitive to infrared radiation. The eye of a swordfish can generate heat to better cope with detecting their prey at depths of 2000 feet.

Fig1: Human Eye

A 2006 University of Pennsylvania study calculated the approximate bandwidth of human retinas to be about 8960 kilobits per second, Night vision is the ability to see in low light conditions. Whether by biological or technological means, night vision is made possible by a combination of two approaches: sufficient spectral range, and sufficient intensity range. Humans have poor night vision compared to many animals, in part because the human eye lacks a tapetum lucidum. The tapetum lucidum is a layer of tissue in the eye of many vertebrate animals. It lies immediately behind the retina. It reflects visible light back through the retina, increasing the light available to the photoreceptors, though blurring the initial image of the light on focus. Owl and many nocturnal animals have night vision. Of all an Owl's features, perhaps the most striking is its eyes. Large and forward facing, they may account for one to five percent of the Owl's body weight, depending on species. The forward facing aspect of the eyes that give an Owl its "wise" appearance, also give it a wide

CSC 620: Image Analysis & pattern Recognition Summer-2013

Assignment 00

range of "binocular" vision (seeing an object with both eyes at the same time). This means the owl can see objects in 3 dimensions (height, width, and depth), and can judge distances in a similar way to humans. The field of view for an owl is about 110 degrees, with about 70 degrees being binocular vision.

Fig2: Vision system of Owl By comparison, humans have a field of view that covers 180 degrees, with 140 degrees being binocular. A woodcock has an amazing 360 degree field of view, because its eyes are on the side of its head. However, less than 10 degrees of this is binocular. An Owl's eyes are large in order to improve their efficiency, especially under low light conditions. In fact, the eyes are so well developed, that they are not eye balls as such, but elongated tubes. They are held in place by bony structures in the skull called Sclerotic rings. For this reason, an Owl cannot "roll" or move its eyes - that is, it can only look straight ahead! The Owl more than makes up for this by being able to turn its head up to 270 degrees left or right from the forward facing position, and almost upside down. As most owls are active at night, their eyes must be very efficient at collecting and processing light. This starts with a large cornea (the transparent outer coating of the eye) and pupil (the opening at the center of the eye). The pupil's size is controlled by the iris (the coloured membrane suspended between the cornea and lens). When the pupil is larger more light passes

CSC 620: Image Analysis & pattern Recognition Summer-2013

Assignment 00

through the lens and onto the large retina (light sensitive tissue on which the image is formed). The retina of an owl's eye has an abundance of light-sensitive, rod-shaped cells appropriately called "rod" cells. Although these cells are very sensitive to light and movement they do not react well to color. Cells that do react to color are called "cone" cells (shaped like a cone), and an Owl's eye possesses few of these, so most Owls see in limited color or in monochrome. Since Owls have extraordinary night vision, it is often thought that they are blind in strong light. This is not true, because their pupils have a wide range of adjustment, allowing the right amount of light to strike the retina. Some species of Owls can actually see well than humans in bright light. To protect their eyes, Owls are equipped with 3 eyelids. They have a normal upper and lower eyelid, the upper closing when the owl blinks, and the lower closing up when the Owl is asleep. The third eyelid is called a nictitating membrane, and is a thin layer of tissue that closes diagonally across the eye, from the inside to the outside. This cleans and protects the surface of the eye. For long distance viewing capacity Eagle is good example. It's impossible to know for sure what the world looks like to an eagle, but we know from studying the anatomy of their eyes that their view must be enlarged and magnified compared to our view. Eagle eyes are the same size (weight) as human eyes (though a full grown adult Bald Eagle weighs no more than about 14 pounds!) But an eagle eye has a much different shape from ours. The back is flatter and larger than the back of our eye, giving an eagle a much larger image than we can see. And its retina has much more concentrated rod and cone cells-the cells that send sight information to the brain. Some animals, including humans, have a special area on their retina called the fovea where there is an enormous concentration of these vision cells. In a human, the fovea has 200,000 cones per millimeter, giving us wonderful vision. In the central fovea of an eagle there are about a MILLION cones per millimeter. That's about the same number of visual cells as the finest computer monitor has on its entire screen when set at its highest resolution. The resolution for a person would be similar to setting a computer's screen at a much lower resolution. Let's compare how much clearer an eagle's view of a distant dragonfly would be compared to a human's view of the same dragonfly, if the fovea were the only difference between our eyes:

How a distant dragonfly might look to an eagle.

How the same dragonfly might look to a person.

CSC 620: Image Analysis & pattern Recognition Summer-2013

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Birds are the only animals with this unique part, called the pecten. One other difference between bird eyes and human eyes is that the retina in mammals gets a supply of blood through tiny blood vessels. This is important for the nutrition and health of the retina, but actually makes our vision a little poorer. Birds don't have blood vessels in their retinas, but they do have the pecten. Here are some theories about why birds have this unique feature:

To keep the retina nourished and healthy without blood vessels. To keep the fluids in the vitreous body at the right pressure. To absorb light to reduce the chance of reflections inside the eye, which can distort vision To help birds to perceive motion To provide shade from the sun To sense magnetism

Scientists have some data that supports the first four. The last two are simple guesses without evidence to support them. Insects can have a number of eyes and moreover, eyes of different types; single eyes and compound ones. In contrast with our eyes, insect eyes are immovable and unable to focus. Insects are short sighted. Butterflies are probably the most far sighted; they can see perhaps a few meters, while bumblebees only have a range of a half meter. An insect eye can go at a 360 angle that a human eye can't and the insect brain receives many images while human brain receives only two. But many insects are helped a lot by their sometimes unbelievable sensitivity for scents. It is of course impossible for humans to perceive what an insect sees. But we think that a compound eye, consisting of 2 to 30 000 lenses will project a sort of mosaic picture. In most cases the compound eyes will see only form and movements, but the dragonfly, which has to catch his prey in flight, undoubtedly must have a detailed view of his near surroundings. With its two enormous compound eyes, each made of 30 000 lenses and the additional single eyes, the dragonfly is very well adapted to its predatory and active life. Insect eyes can change considerably between the larval and the adult stage. When you look into the details of the compound insect eye, there are many differences when you compare them with human eyes. But amazingly there is a very close resemblance between the genes that control the development of eyes in a house fly and in man, making it a little bit easier to understand the many times that eyes developed independently in different classes of animals. Other sets of control genes cause the differences between animal groups. (A gene is a stretch of DNA in a cell nucleus with the information, necessary to make enzymes, the proteins that regulate all cell functions. Control genes regulate other genes, by switching them on and off). When we look into more details of a compound insect eye, we have to learn the terms that describe such an eye. One single, complete eye, situated in a compound eye, is called an

CSC 620: Image Analysis & pattern Recognition Summer-2013

Assignment 00

ommatidium. On the outside we find the lens, directly followed by a crystalline cone. The cone is connected to long cells, called the rhabdome (in fact the photoreceptor surface), surrounded by several retina cells, which secrete the rhabdome. Crystalline cone, rhabdome and retina cells are surrounded by pigment cells that have the function of optically isolating each ommatidium from its neighbors. The retina cells are connected to nerve cells, leading to the optic ganglion. In insect species that are active at twilight or at night we find that the rhabdome is not connected to the crystal cone. Consequently the ommatidia are not completely isolated from each other, leading to a better light yield but also resulting in a less sharp image. Both types of eyes are combined in mayflies. In some night owls the light yield is improved by a reflecting layer. We see their eyes lit up in the dark when we direct a light beam at moths. Seeing is a photochemical process. Photons are caught on the rhabdome by a compound that we call retinal. When it absorbs light energy, retinal changes its form from bent to straight. Retinal is connected to a membrane bound protein, opsin. This complex is called rhodopsin. When retinal changes its form, it separates from the rhodopsin and the opsin triggers a nerve cell. The nerve cells conduct the signal to the brain, telling the brain that the rhabdome has seen a photon. (The free retinal will later be reduced to vitamin A, and in a second reaction, from this vitamin retinal is formed again, which recombines with the free opsin. That is why we need vitamin A for a good night vision).

References:
1. http://www.owlpages.com/articles.php?section=owl+physiology&title=vision

2. http://www.microscopy-uk.org.uk/mag/indexmag.html?http://www.microscopy-

uk.org.uk/mag/artapr00/inseye.html

3. http://www.learner.org/jnorth/tm/eagle/VisionA.html

4. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Night_vision