The AMBEGUJAS Phenomenon and Colour Constancy

Abstract

The AMBEGUJAS phenomenon is a reversible flat figure that is spontaneously shifting between two apparent 3-D shapes—‘tile’ and ‘roof. 2-D perceptions have very rarely been reported. Tied to the shifts between the tile and roof shapes are remarkable changes of perceived colour. In our example, the tile appears to have orange (top half) and blue–green (bottom half) surface colours in white light. The roof appears grey but in an orange illumination and with a blue–green shadow. This phenomenon appears whether a grey display is presented in two coloured illuminations, or a chromatic display with two surface colours (orange and blue–green) is presented in white light. In the coloured illuminations the tile is an example of non-constancy, since its colours are non-veridical colour perceptions. The centre stripe of the display appears to have the same orange and blue–green colours as the lateral stripes but in a shadow. This seems like a colour constancy in a non-constancy situation. An alternative to the classical definition of colour constancy is discussed.