Influence of Main Ocular Variables in #TheDress Perception: An Ophthalmic Survey

Area of Science:

• Ophthalmology
• Visual Perception
• Psychophysics

Background:

• The viral #thedress phenomenon sparked debate regarding color perception.
• Individual differences in perception suggest underlying physiological or optical factors may play a role.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the influence of ocular variables on the perception of #thedress.
• To develop a predictive logistic regression model for #thedress perception based on ocular factors.

Main Methods:

• A cross-sectional study involving 1,100 subjects, excluding those with ambiguous perceptions.
• Logistic regression analysis was used to associate dress perception (white&gold vs. black&blue) with ocular variables.
• Variables included age, gender, visual acuity, nuclear cataract grade, lens status, spherical equivalent, and ocular health.

Main Results:

• Older age (OR=1.02), higher nuclear cataract grade (OR=1.45), and hyperopia (ocular refraction OR=1.07) were significantly associated with perceiving the dress as black and blue.
• The logistic regression model incorporating these factors had low predictive value (Area Under Curve = 0.62).

Conclusions:

• Ocular factors such as age, nuclear cataract, and refractive error are associated with #thedress perception.
• However, these ocular variables explain only a small portion of the variability in how individuals perceive the dress's color.