🚀 go-pugleaf

The ICR Evening Lecture Series

Monday, November 27, 1989 -- 8:00 p.m.
Room 1302 Davis Centre
University of Waterloo

Adding the Colour Dimension to Computer Graphics

William B. Cowan
Associate Professor of Computer Science and Psychology

Colour adds greatly to the richness of all aspects of visual
experience.  At the same time it is surprisingly difficult to use
effectively, whether its purpose is aesthetic or informational.  The
increasing use of colour on computer displays makes it imperative that
techniques for using colour, long known to designers and artists, be
embodied in graphical algorithms for use by the computer industry.  To
do so it is necessary to study the interaction of the human visual
system with the display properties of computer output media.  This
lecture provides an introduction to human processing of information
displayed using colour, with an emphasis on those aspects that are
important for graphical computer interfaces and some of the novel
problems that arise when the display surface is shared by the output of
several application programs.

William Cowan has been an associate professor of computer science and
psychology since 1988 and is director of the Computer Graphics
Laboratory.  He obtained a a BSc in physics from the University of
Waterloo and a PhD in statistical physics from McGill University, then
worked at the National Research Council of Canada where he learned
colour psychophysics from the late Gunter Wyszecki.  His research
interests encompass many aspects of the transfer of information from a
computer to its human user, particularly those in which information
density is great and where temporal and multi-processing (by human or
computer) factors are important.

Everyone is welcome to attend the ICR evening lecture series.  Each
lecture addresses an area of current research at the University of
Waterloo related to the use of computers.  The series is designed for a
broad audience, including non-specialists interested in gaining more
insight into recent advancements in the field of computing and the
potential impact those advancements have on everyday life.

Coffee and cookies will be served after the lecture.

Guest parking is available in the University's ``B'' Parking Lot
(entrance off Phillip Street).

For further information, contact the Institute for Computer Research at
the University of Waterloo, 519/888-4530.