Human observers can readily discriminate textures with different orientations when they are presented on a planar surface, as illustrated on the top of the figure to the right.


But if the surface is folded then the image contains additional discontinuities. Observers generally have difficulty determining whether a change in image texture is due solely to a change in surface geometry or if it also reflects a change in the intrinsic surface texture. This suggests that while humans are quite adept at detecting texture discontinuities in an image, they are limited in their ability to interpret them.

(Collaborative work with Mary Bravo)