From rainbows, mirages and coloured Moons to perspective painting, Op Art and virtual reality, the manipulation of light and image has fascinated general observers, scientists and artists for centuries. This conference traces the history of visual illusion from antiquity through the development of optics, exploring how the physics of light explains natural optical phenomena, image formation and the creation of convincing visual effects. From mirrors, lenses and the camera obscura to photography, computational imaging and augmented reality, the conference will examine how advances in optical science have continually transformed the ways we perceive, represent and experience the visual world.
MORNING CHAIR:
10.30am: WELCOME
10.40am: Professor Carolin Crawford (University of Cambridge) - Optical Phenomena in Nature and the Sky
11.30am: Dr Lucia Tantardini (University of Cambridge) - Making the Invisible Visible: Perspective, Light and the Science of Illusion in Renaissance Italy
12.20pm: Professor John Mollon FRS (University of Cambridge) - Vision in the Scientific Revolution and Enlightenment
1.15pm: LUNCH BREAK
AFTERNOON CHAIR:
2.15pm: Professor Andrew Glennerster (University of Reading) - 20th Century Experiments with Optical Illusions
3.05pm: Professor Sarah Atkinson (King's College London) - Simulating Reality: Visual Illusion in the Digital Age
4pm: TEA/COFFEE BREAK
4.30pm: Summary of the day's proceedings - Professor Mark Dennis (University of Birmingham)
There will be a conference dinner at St Cross College at 6.30pm following the end of the conference with an after-dinner talk by Professor Jennifer Bizley (University College London) on the phenomenon of auditory illusion. Booking to attend the conference dinner can be made via the University's online store.
Kindly sponsored by three Physics alumni of the University of Oxford, the Department of Physics - University of Oxford, the Institute of Physics History of Physics Group and London & South East Branch, and many other HAPP supporters.
