Magnetic-Sand-Illusions

This repository contains the code and resources for generating noise videos and analyzing data from the research paper "Magnetic Sand Illusions" by Shimojo et al., BioRxiv 2024. The project explores the visual and perceptual phenomena of "magnetic sand" illusions, revealing how certain noise patterns can evoke illusionary motion.

A demo of the Magnetic Sand Illusion is available here.

Table of Contents

• Usage
• Data and Analysis
• Files and Structure
• License

Usage

This repository provides Jupyter Notebooks and Python scripts to generate noise videos and analyze the experimental data. Below are instructions for running the key components:

1. Noise Video Generation:

   To generate noise videos with different parameter combinations (e.g., varying cell size and temporal frequency), use the provided notebook:

   Magnetic Sand Illusion Video Generator

   

2. Data Analysis:

   The following Jupyter Notebooks provide a detailed analysis of different psychophysics experiments:

   • Sensitivity to Parameters (Cell Size and Temporal Frequency):

     This notebook explores how changes in parameters like cell size and temporal frequency affect perception:

     Parameter Sensitivity Notebook

     

     Mean Illusions

     

     Perception Maps

     

     Trajectories by Illusion

     

   • Comparison of Dynamic vs. Static Noises:

     This notebook compares participants' reactions to dynamic and static noise patterns:

     Dynamic vs. Static Notebook

     

     

   • Self Action vs. Observing Others:

     This notebook examines differences between self-action (moving) and observing others' movement:

     Self vs. Other Notebook

     
     

Data and Analysis

All experimental data, data preprocessing, and visualizations are included in the Jupyter Notebooks provided in the repository. These notebooks include:

• Code for generating noise videos using varying parameters.
• Data analysis from psychophysics experiments, studying the perception of noise patterns and illusionary motion.
• Visualizations to interpret the results and compare conditions across experiments.

Files and Structure

Here is an overview of the main directories and files in the repository:

• Videos/: Contains Jupyter Notebooks to generate the noise videos used in the experiments.
• Notebook/: Contains Jupyter Notebooks for data analysis and visualizations.
• Figure/: Contains images and visualizations from the experiments, including results from the analysis notebooks.

License

This project is licensed under the terms of the LICENSE.txt.