Material and lighting dimensions of object colour
Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jun 12, 2026

Measuring Spatially- and Directionally-varying Light Scattering from Biological Material
Published on: May 20, 2013
Rumi Tokunaga1, Alexander D Logvinenko
1Department of Vision Sciences, Glasgow Caledonian University, City Campus, Cowcaddens Road, Glasgow G4 0BA, UK.
Abstract:
The dimensionality of the object colour manifold was studied using a multidimensional scaling technique, which allows for the representation of a set of coloured papers as a configuration in a Euclidean space where the distance between papers corresponds to the perceptual dissimilarities between them. When the papers are evenly illuminated they can be arranged as a three-dimensional configuration. This is in line with the generally accepted view that the object colour space is three-dimensional. Yet, we show that under variegated illumination another three dimensions emerge. We call them lighting dimensions of object colour in order to distinguish from the traditional three referred to as material dimensions of object colour.
Related Concept Videos
Light Acquisition
Dimensional Analysis
Dimensional analysis allows us to analyze and compare physical quantities on a...
Dimensional Analysis
Dimensional Analysis
In fluid mechanics, dimensional...
Dimensional Analysis
Conversion Factors and Dimensional Analysis
The unit...
Focusing of Light in the Eye

