Experimental examination of Mona Lisa Effect

2020 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 17H02654
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (B)
• Allocation Type: Single-year Grants
• Section: 一般
• Research Field: Experimental psychology
• Research Institution: Ritsumeikan University
• Principal Investigator: Sato Takao 立命館大学, 総合心理学部, 教授 (60272449)
• Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha): 妹尾 武治 九州大学, 芸術工学研究院, 准教授 (40546181) ; 北岡 明佳 立命館大学, 総合心理学部, 教授 (70234234) ; 森川 和則 大阪大学, 人間科学研究科, 教授 (70312436) ; 蒲池 みゆき 工学院大学, 情報学部(情報工学部), 教授 (70395101) ; 天野 薫 国立研究開発法人情報通信研究機構, 脳情報通信融合研究センター脳情報通信融合研究室, 主任研究員 (70509976) ; 北崎 充晃 豊橋技術科学大学, 工学(系)研究科(研究院), 教授 (90292739)
• Project Period (FY): 2017-04-01 – 2021-03-31
• Keywords: モナリザ効果 / 形の恒常性 / 奥行き知覚 / 顔知覚

Outline of Final Research Achievements

Mona Lisa effect is a phenomenon in which the person depicted in a portrait is perceived as if he/she is facing directly to the observer when the observer moves around. When this happens, the figural depth cue of the depicted person suppresses the effectiveness of binocular disparity. There are two important points; (1)there occurs a separation between 3D perception of the depicted person and the picture surface, (2)the surface of the picture is not perceived although it is defined by binocular disparity. To explore these points, we examined several aspects including the effect of face-ness, and contributions of binocular disparity from separate components of portrait paintings. It was found that binocular disparity by itself does not contribute to the perception of orientation. From these results, it was concluded that figural cues and binocular disparity are evaluated by separate mechanisms and they are combined to create the perception of orientation of face or other objects.

Free Research Field

知覚心理学

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

絵画，写真など，3次元的な物体が二次元画像として描写，表現されている時には，画像表面はテクスチャのある平面であり，そこには両眼視差が稠密に存在している．にもかかわらず，モナリザ効果の生起時には，画枠，および被描写物の持つ画像的手がかりが，物理的な表面の知覚を抑制する，こうした特殊な奥行き手がかり間の相互作用の解明は，二次元表現からの3次元物体の知覚を考える上で重要な要素であり，人間の脳内の三次元表象の本質を知る手がかりとなる．