Bruce Vicki, Healey Patrick, Burton Mike, Doyle Tony, Coombes Anne, Linney Alf
Department of Psychology, University of Nottingham, Nottingham NG7 2RD.
Department of Medical Physics, University College London, Capper St, London WC1E 2JA.
Perception. 2013;42(11):1200-14. doi: 10.1068/p200755n.
The extent to which faces depicted as surfaces devoid of pigmentation and with minimal texture cues ('head models') could be matched with photographs (when unfamiliar) and identified (when familiar) was examined in three experiments. The head models were obtained by scanning the three-dimensional surface of the face with a laser, and by displaying the surface measured in this way by using standard computer-aided design techniques. Performance in all tasks was above chance but far from ceiling. Experiment 1 showed that matching of unfamiliar head models with photographs was affected by the resolution with which the surface was displayed, suggesting that subjects based their decisions, at least in part, on three-dimensional surface structure. Matching accuracy was also affected by other factors to do with the viewpoints shown in the head models and test photographs, and the type of lighting used to portray the head model. In experiment 2 further evidence for the importance of the nature of the illumination used was obtained, and it was found that the addition of a hairstyle (not that of the target face) did not facilitate matching. In experiment 3 identification of the head models by colleagues of the people shown was compared with identification of photographs where the hair was concealed and eyes were closed. Head models were identified less well than these photographs, suggesting that the difficulties in their recognition are not solely due to the lack of hair. Women's heads were disproportionately difficult to recognise from the head models. The results are discussed in terms of their implications for the use of such three-dimensional head models in forensic and surgical applications.
在三个实验中，研究了被描绘为没有色素沉着且纹理线索最少的表面的面部（“头部模型”）在不熟悉时与照片匹配以及在熟悉时被识别的程度。头部模型是通过用激光扫描面部的三维表面，并使用标准的计算机辅助设计技术显示以这种方式测量的表面而获得的。所有任务的表现都高于随机水平，但远未达到上限。实验1表明，不熟悉的头部模型与照片的匹配受到表面显示分辨率的影响，这表明受试者至少部分地基于三维表面结构做出决策。匹配准确性还受到与头部模型和测试照片中所示视角以及用于描绘头部模型的照明类型有关的其他因素的影响。在实验2中，获得了关于所用照明性质重要性的进一步证据，并且发现添加发型（不是目标面部的发型）并没有促进匹配。在实验3中，将照片中人物的同事对头部模型的识别与头发被遮住且眼睛闭上的照片的识别进行了比较。从头部模型中识别出的头部不如这些照片识别得好，这表明识别它们的困难不仅仅是由于缺乏头发。从头部模型中识别女性的头部异常困难。根据这些结果对这种三维头部模型在法医和外科应用中的使用所产生的影响进行了讨论。
