Achievement

Visual estimation of object stability is an ecologically important judgment that allows observers to predict the physical behavior of objects. Understanding the perception of stability is important both for biological perception as well as generating effective visual graphics. One way to measure perceived stability to estimate the angle at which an object appears equally likely to fall over versus return to its upright stable position (critical angle). Trainee Cholewiak, using asymmetric 3D objects (skewed conical frustums) found that observers can find the critical angle in different directions of tilt, and match perceived object stability across 3D objects with different shapes. These results suggest that perceived stability is likely to be a fundamental perceptual attribute, represented along a single dimension.

Visual perception of the physical stability of asymmetric 3D objects, Journal of Vision, 2013, 13(4):12).