The Measurement of Appearance

Book excerpt: This second edition of a unique text/reference identifies the appearance attributes of objects and the methods available for measuring them, bringing together much material not previously organized for ready reference. The primary premise here is that ``object appearance'' involves not only color, but such attributes as gloss, luster, and translucency. The first part of the book, concerned with nature of appearance, draws from the fields of physiology and psychology and considers the eye-brain combination and the way it receives and interprets light signals. This is followed by a consideration of the optical properties of objects from the physical standpoint. The second part of the book deals with the numerical scales used to measure object appearance. The discussion here draws on psychophysics in describing the uses of physical techniques to give numbers having psychological significance. The third part of the book covers instruments for the measurement of the attributes of object appearance, their principles of design, and a survey of the major ones in use. The final chapter discusses specific applications of appearance measurement. Includes appendixes and a glossary.