Effect of material perception on mode of color appearance

The mode of color appearance (mode) is a concept suggesting that variations in a medium that emits, transmits, or reflects light can cause differences in color appearance. For example, the same light beams that appear brown (or gray) when reflected from a given object surface may appear orange (or white) when emitted from a light source. The present study investigated the relationships between material perception and perceived mode, especially in terms of luminosity. In the experiment, a rotating spheroid was presented with surrounds of various luminance levels. The surface texture of the spheroid was either matte gray (three surface reflectance levels) or one of two fabrics. The participants were asked to evaluate the luminosity (mode) and perceived reflectance of the object. The results show that the mode perception is clearly different from the lightness perception. The luminosity was fit with a linear function of the lightness scale in CIE (Commission Internationale de l'Éclairage) L* value of the object surface, unless the material of the surface was identifiable. To conclude, the luminosity (mode) perception can be strongly affected by the material percept, and the luminosity perception of the same object can vary when its surface property is ambiguous.