The integration of early vision, saliency models, and eye-movement control: Experiments, modeling, and spatial statistics

这个项目的首要目标是从两个研究领域的富有成效的结合中发展出一个综合的眼动指导数学模型，这两个领域迄今被相当独立地对待：早期空间视觉和眼动的动态控制。我们从Tübingen的Wichmann小组开发的早期空间视觉的神经学似是而非和心理生理评估的群体模型开始，以及波茨坦的Engbert小组追求的眼动控制和注意力分配的动态建模方法。在资助该项目的头两年半时间里，我们有：(I)进行了广泛的实验，测量视觉场景中的眼球运动和注意力转移。(2)对空间相关函数进行了新的分析，以便分析视觉场景中的注视模式。(3)开发了能够产生丰富眼动路径的生成性动态模型。(4)开发了在我们的眼动控制生成动态模型中进行最大似然参数估计所需的数学和统计工具。(V)在我们早期的空间视觉种群模型的基础上，设计了一个视觉显著模型。(6)为能够解释来自空间视觉的数据以及能够预测人类眼球运动路径的综合数学模型奠定了基础。在我们项目的第二个资助或继续阶段，我们计划首先完成空间视觉和眼动控制综合数学模型的开发。其次，我们计划对我们的模型进行实验测试，灵感来自于它的生成能力。

The overarching goal of this project is to develop an integrated mathematical model of eye-movement guidance from the fruitful combination of two areas of research which have hitherto been treated rather separately: early spatial vision and the dynamic control of eye-movements. We started from a neuronally plausible and psychophysically evaluated population model of early spatial vision developed in Wichmann's group in Tübingen, and a dynamic modelling approach to eye-movement control and attention deployment pursued in Engbert's group in Potsdam. In the first two and a half years of funding of the project we have: (i) Performed extensive experiments measuring eye-movements and shifts of attention in visual scenes. (ii) Developed new analyses for spatial correlation functions in order to analyse the pattern of fixations in visual scenes. (iii) Developed a generative dynamic model capable of producing rich eye-movement paths. (iv) Developed the mathematical and statistical tools necessary for maximum-likelihood parameter estimation in our generative dynamic model of eye-movement control. (v) Designed a model of visual saliency based on our early spatial vision population model. (vi) Laid the foundations for an integrated mathematical model capable of both explaining data from spatial vision as well as being able to predict human eye-movement paths. In a second funding or continuation phase of our project we plan, first, to finish the development of integrated mathematical model of spatial vision and eye-movement control. Second, we plan to perform experimental tests of our model, inspired by its generative capabilities.