Overview
The Chubb Contrast Illusion is a visual phenomenon where the perceived contrast of a textured object is altered by the contrast of its surrounding background. A textured disk surrounded by a high-contrast texture frame often appears washed out or lower in contrast than it actually is. This sandbox allows you to dynamically adjust both the center and surround textures to observe how your visual cortex processes contextual contrast.
How to Use
- Use the Center Disk Contrast slider to set the base texture contrast of the inner circle.
- Use the Surround Frame Contrast slider to change the background texture contrast.
- Toggle Test Mode to view the center disk with and without the surrounding frame simultaneously for direct comparison.
- Click Reset Simulation to return to default parameters.
- Wait 45 seconds without input to trigger automated Demo Mode.
Technical Details
This simulation utilizes the HTML5 Canvas API for high-performance 2D texture rendering. The visual output is mathematically generated using luminance noise mapped to a grid. The architecture follows a mobile-first responsive design with a 992px breakpoint tab-switcher to ensure canvas and control usability on small screens. All computations are handled within requestAnimationFrame() to ensure an Interaction to Next Paint (INP) score below 200ms.
Future Directions
Roadmap updates include integrating a spatial frequency control slider to explore the interplay between contrast and frequency in lateral inhibition. Additionally, a neural network visualizer will be added to represent the firing rates of modeled V1 interneurons in real-time as the sliders are adjusted. Eye-tracking integration is also planned to measure pupil dilation responses to high-contrast surrounds.