Open AccessThe non-Riemannian nature of perceptual color space
Author(s) -
Roxana Bujack,
Emily Stark Teti,
Jonah Miller,
Elektra Caffrey,
Terece L. Turton
Publication year - 2022
Publication title -
proceedings of the national academy of sciences of the united states of america
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 1091-6490
pISSN - 0027-8424
DOI - 10.1073/pnas.2119753119
Subject(s) - space (punctuation) , perception , mathematics , riemannian geometry , euclidean space , color space , computer science , artificial intelligence , pure mathematics , psychology , image (mathematics) , neuroscience , operating system
Significance For over 100 y, the scientific community has adhered to a paradigm, introduced by Riemann and furthered by Helmholtz and Schrodinger, where perceptual color space is a three-dimensional Riemannian space. This implies that the distance between two colors is the length of the shortest path that connects them. We show that a Riemannian metric overestimates the perception of large color differences because large color differences are perceived as less than the sum of small differences. This effect, called diminishing returns, cannot exist in a Riemannian geometry. Consequently, we need to adapt how we model color differences, as the current standard,Δ E , recognized by the International Commission for Weights and Measures, does not account for diminishing returns in color difference perception.