Scene (perception)

{{Short description|Information available to sensory systems}}

In the field of perception, a scene is information that can flow from a physical environment into a perceptual system via sensory transduction.{{cite journal | last1=Ruderman | first1=Daniel L. | last2=Bialek | first2=William | title=Statistics of natural images: Scaling in the woods | journal=Physical Review Letters | publisher=American Physical Society (APS) | volume=73 | issue=6 | date=1994-08-08 | issn=0031-9007 | doi=10.1103/physrevlett.73.814 | pages=814–817| pmid=10057546 | bibcode=1994PhRvL..73..814R }}{{cite journal | last=Geisler | first=Wilson S. | title=Visual Perception and the Statistical Properties of Natural Scenes | journal=Annual Review of Psychology| publisher=Annual Reviews | volume=59 | issue=1 | year=2008 | issn=0066-4308 | doi=10.1146/annurev.psych.58.110405.085632 | pages=167–192| pmid=17705683 |url=http://www.cps.utexas.edu/Research/Geisler/PDF%20files/ARP_Geisler_08.pdf}}

A perceptual system is designed to interpret scenes.

Examples of scenes include

• Still images
• Binocular still images
• Moving images (movies)
• Binocular moving images (~3D movies)
• Sounds of a local environment (audio recordings)
• Tactile properties of a local environment.

A natural scene is a scene that a perceptual system would typically encounter in a natural mode of operation. Therefore, a very relevant area of research is natural scene statistics.{{cite conference | last1=Geisler | first1=Wilson S. | last2=Perry | first2=Jeffrey S. | last3=Ing | first3=Almon D. | title=Natural systems analysis |conference=Electronic Imaging |location= San Jose, California, United States| publisher=SPIE | date=2008-02-14 | doi=10.1117/12.784161 | page=68060M| doi-access=free }}{{cite journal | last=Field | first=David J. | title=Relations between the statistics of natural images and the response properties of cortical cells | journal=Journal of the Optical Society of America A | publisher=The Optical Society | volume=4 | issue=12 | date=1987-12-01 | pages=2379–94 | issn=1084-7529 | doi=10.1364/josaa.4.002379 | pmid=3430225 |doi-access=free| bibcode=1987JOSAA...4.2379F }}