Face identity recognition in simulated prosthetic vision is poorer than previously reported and can be improved by caricaturing

Jessica L. Irons, Tamara Gradden, Angel Zhang, Xuming He, Nick Barnes, Adele F. Scott, Elinor McKone*

*Corresponding author for this work

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

    25 Citations (Scopus)

    Abstract

    The visual prosthesis (or “bionic eye”) has become a reality but provides a low resolution view of the world. Simulating prosthetic vision in normal-vision observers, previous studies report good face recognition ability using tasks that allow recognition to be achieved on the basis of information that survives low resolution well, including basic category (sex, age) and extra-face information (hairstyle, glasses). Here, we test within-category individuation for face-only information (e.g., distinguishing between multiple Caucasian young men with hair covered). Under these conditions, recognition was poor (although above chance) even for a simulated 40 × 40 array with all phosphene elements assumed functional, a resolution above the upper end of current-generation prosthetic implants. This indicates that a significant challenge is to develop methods to improve face identity recognition. Inspired by “bionic ear” improvements achieved by altering signal input to match high-level perceptual (speech) requirements, we test a high-level perceptual enhancement of face images, namely face caricaturing (exaggerating identity information away from an average face). Results show caricaturing improved identity recognition in memory and/or perception (degree by which two faces look dissimilar) down to a resolution of 32 × 32 with 30% phosphene dropout. Findings imply caricaturing may offer benefits for patients at resolutions realistic for some current-generation or in-development implants.

    Original languageEnglish
    Pages (from-to)61-79
    Number of pages19
    JournalVision Research
    Volume137
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - Aug 2017

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