VISUALITY

Lawrence C.Y.Ho

·国外来稿·

VISUALITY

Lawrence C.Y.Ho

Plastic surgery is the craft of restoration to normal of deformed or malformed body organs or parts.Normality in the human body hasa wide spectrum running from the ugly to exquisite beauty.A conceptualisation and analysis of the components of visuality is presented to help plastic surgeons in general and aesthetic surgeons in particular with analytical guidelines and tools to improve the aesthetic visual impact of their work.Visuality(like musicality)has many components，namely colour，dimension，congruency，highlight，illusion and finally harmony.Visual illusion is utilised.These concepts apply equally to other art forms such as fashion design，painting and architecture.

Visuality-colour-3dimension-structure congruency-highlight adequacy-harmony-visual illusion

1 INTRODUCTION

The aim of plastic surgery is to restore to normal deformed or malformed organs or parts.Thus the plastic surgeon must know the normal form and function.Good plastic and aesthetic surgery must go beyond normal to the beautiful normal.Hungerford said，“Beauty is in the eye of the beholder”.There are beholders and beholders;each finds its own level from the basic to the refined basking in the security of their comfort zone.Important influences on the beholder are memories of previous pleasurable experience associated with certain visual images and cultural norms.

Marcus Vitruvius living and working in the century before Christ described the Vitrusian Triad and proportions in architecture and the body of man into sevens.Leonardo da Vinci popularised the Vitrusian man one and half thousand years later and expounded on Vitruvius＇ideal proportions with further mathematical ratios.Based on Vitruvius and his own observations and studies Albrecht Durer wrote extensively on human proportions in four books in 1528.Both da Vinci and Durer concluded that the face height was divisible into three equal parts;the forehead，nose and mouth/chin complex.Horizontally the eye is one fifth of the width of the face.Millard［1］in his book expounds in great detail the golden proportion(1 page 82-87)in the beautiful face and other body parts.He stated that Korean，Japanese and Chinese faces are moon-faced(page 104);this is more an apparent perception than reality as will be demonstrated later.All these writers assume that the human eye and brain have the colossal processing power to master these minute details of proportions and ratios to integrate the massive information to fit into blueprints of proportioned templates of beauty;this is far from fact.Various workers have demonstrated visual illusions;many explanations have been offered but few are convincing.

2 METHODOLOGY

The components of visuality are colour awareness，dimension projection;highlight adequacy structural congruency and harmony.

2.1 Colour Awareness White light is made up of all the spectral colours(hues);each colour corresponds to a specific frequency of the order of one million million cycles per second.Colour is a sensation and the colour sensitive cones in the retina react to red，green and blue.All the two hundred separable colours(more correctly hues)are represented by only three kinds of colour specific cones.All colours are seen by a mixture of incoming signals of different intensities from these three systems.Colour confusion between red and green has an incidence of 10%in men and significantly less in women.Confusion between green and blue is less common.Some colours are per-ceived as warm，cold，bright，and dull.Cultural imprint has a strong influence as white is perceived as pure and black is evil or malevolent in the western culture.Vivid colours are preferred in some cultures.

2.2 3-Dimension Awareness The images in the retina at the back of the eyes are two-dimensional［2］.Dimension or depth perception of solid objects lying in three dimension space is possible only with binocular vision i.e.a pair of eyes seven and half cm apart working together to synthesize two slightly different images into a single perception.This is achieved by the combined effects of the angle of convergence(range finder effect of the camera)，the disparity effect of the two slightly different images projected in the retina and motion parallax.The first two give the perception of depth by stereoscopic vision.These mechanisms act together with the angle of convergence adjusting the scale of disparity.A flat featureless oriental face with poorly defined organs(cheek and nose)and pilasters has a round amorphous two dimension appearance without depth as it lacks the depth perception provided by the adequate progressively expanding“sectional planes”between the collection of peripheral minor pilasters and the outer perimeter of the major facial pilasters.This type of face and other objects of similar topography are also unable to take advantage of tone gradation and shadow effect.

2.3 Highlight Adequacy Light provides the sensations of colour and brightness.Light of high intensity striking the retina＇s photosensitive cells generates high rates of electrical signals along the neural tracts to the brain.The brightness sensation is modulated by dark and light adaptation;each having an opposite enhancing effect.Brightness is also affected by intensity of surrounding areas，which provide contrast enhancement.Contrast enhancement is important in border/margin(pilasters)perception;borders are primarily signalled to the brain.Regions of low，constant or even illumination do not send much information as a result of lateral inhibition from the bright pilasters(borders)and central inhibition.The visual system extrapolates between borders;the eye does not see detail but only margins or highlights.

2.4 Structural Congruency Mackay［3］demonstrated that some figures are extremely disturbing visually.Some examples are a tight packed series of rays and closely packed repeated parallel lines.Less disturbing are collections of diverse conflicting lines as in the left side of the face in Figure 3.Many theories have been proposed but they have been easily refuted or rejected as been too vague to be helpful.

2.5 Harmony A balanced optimum synthesis of the above components will achieve a harmonious objective of a part or whole of the human form，work of art such as a painting or piece of architecture.

3 Presentation

3.1 Colour Awareness Figure 1 shows the face of very dark complexioned Aryan Indian in Australia.Under“Australian multicultural society correctness”he undergoes treatment to lighten his skin as seen in Figure 2.

3.2 Dimension awareness The face in Figure 3 has flat poorly defined cheeks and nose;the outline of the peripheral minor pilasters of the frontal sub planes of the cheek and rhomboid［4-6］are close to the primary ramus pilaster at the outer perimeter of the face.These provides inadequate expanding sectional planes giving little leverage to convergence and disparity effects for 3-dimension effect.

Following Facial Optimisation the same face in Figure 4 has a different appearance［6］.It has well-defined cheeks and nose and looks apparently oval rather than round.

3.3 Highlight Adequacy The face in Figure 3 has an apparently short nose and nasal highlight;the large expanse of even L light between the eyes has given it a hyperteloric appearance.The laterally located pilasters highlights do not lie in a continuous smooth curve.The lower two lateral lie far out laterally almost touching the primary ramus pilaster giving the face a broad rounded appearance.This has also generated the appearance of a bracketed pair of horizontal convergent(concave)pilaster highlights across the lower forehead and lower mid-face.Paired strong convergent pilasters or borders have a centripetal retractive action as described by Muller-Lyer［7］，(Figure 5);thus the face is appears foreshortened and rounded.Paired strong divergent pilasters or borders have a centrifugal distractive effect［7］，(Figure 5).Significant paired convergent borders also produce length or width illusions［8］，(Figure 6).

Following Facial Optimisation［6］，the face in Figure 4 has a different appearance.The pilasters highlights have been tensioned and realigned to make them continuous and the whole apparently rotated 90 degrees to line up as paired continuous gentle curves on the sides of the face(The previously discontinuous frontal temporal，orbital-zygomatic-temporal，lateral cheek and oral masseteric pilasters have been aesthetically realigned smoothly with judicious use of fat micro-grafts).This vertical pair of strong convergent pilasters now exercise their retractive effect to make the transverse space across the face apparently shorter and narrower giving the face an apparently oval appearance.The nasal highlight is lengthened as well by augmenting the nasal bridge.It helps make the face oval and the apparent hypertelorism is corrected as well.The pair of well tensioned smooth convergent continuous curves of realigned lateral pilaster highlights has altered the overall perception of the facial shape from round to oval but the face has not been made longer and the width narrower in absolute values.This is the illusion of paired strong convergent pilaster highlights which have been“rotated”to lie vertically;these now exercise their retractive effect transversely and not vertically to make the face appear narrower and oval instead of broad and round.The previously perceived paired concave horizontal highlights have been“erased”in pilaster realigning by facial optimisation.Facial Optimisation has changed the visual perception of the face shape by utilising Muller-Lyer illusion principle and judicious aesthetic micro-fat grafts.

3.4 Structural Congruency In Figure 3 the four lateral margin highlights are discontinuous，and ragged;Mackay［3］would say they are disturbing.The eye just sees the two prominent middle level pilaster margin highlights;this makes the face appear round or moon shaped［1］.In Figure 4 after Facial Optimisation［5］，the lateral pilaster margin highlights are a continuous gentle curve.The eyes now see two long lateral margin lines，which appear much closer together as a result of highlight retraction［6-7］.

3.5 Harmony The post Facial Lipomorphoplasty face(Figure 4)appears harmonious as it fulfils the criteria of dimension projection，highlight adequacy and structural congruency.

The above principles are demonstrated in other regions of the body;they are equally applicable to architecture and other forms of artwork.Figure 7 shows an unaesthetic femoral gluteal region presenting for lipocontouring.The thighs are thick and round with inadequate highlight structures.The lower lateral abdomen is flat and featureless while the lateral and medial margins are irregular and uneasy to the eyes.In short the legs are short，thick and fat.Figure 8 shows the same after lipocontouring.Most striking are the congruent smooth congruent lateral and medial margins.The thigh“cylinders”are slim and tapered.Reduction of the turgid bulk of both outer segments of the thighs and“champhering”of the lower outer and inner thighs has produced this result.The legs now appear long，smooth and shapely.The aesthetically improved physical contour has been augmented by a double action of Muller-Lyer illusion(Figure 5)of the centripetal retractive effect of paired convergent pilasters around each thigh and more importantly around the outer pilasters of the thigh hip aesthetic unit［7］，(Figure 8).

We come to visuality＇s application to fashion.In Figure 9 the attire does no justice to the attractive the model;the physique is flat and featureless with no dimension projection and large amorphous diffuse reflected light.The attire in Figure 10 is a contrast in fashion.The model demonstrates a 3-dimension physique with a fluted waist/abdomen.Border perception is enhanced by excellent highlight margins aided by lateral inhibition of constant low light regions.The lines are congruent and flow gently.In addition the alternating paired convergent，divergent and convergent pilasters on the torso with their alternating retractive，distractive and retractive effect gives the illusion of an apparent smoother more even torso.This illusion effect is probably enhanced by Ponzo perspective illusion.

Figure 11 is the painting of the last Supper by da Vinci.Judas is not identifiable from the western cultural colour norm.The group is spread out along a long table with the figures largely painted in fontal posture，which lend little 3-dimension appearance.Depth is suggested by the sidewalls of the room and rear windows.There is little highlight in this congruent widely spread out grouping which is balanced and harmonious.Witness Figure 12，Reuben＇s Last Supper with an intimate warm 3-dimensioned circular grouping with many figures in oblique posture in the corner of a room illuminated from a side window with good tone gradation.The long vertical highlight structures help draw the group together into a warm balance painting.Judas is easily identified by the western colour cultural norm.

Figure 13 is the flat highly regulated repetitively vertical pattern of the front view of Australia＇s Federal Parliament House in Canberra，which has little depth.The suggestion of 3-dimension projection comes from the perspective of diminishing sides of the excavated site and the slightly set back flagpole and podium.The vertical columns provide adequate centripetal highlight retraction to an otherwise overly wide flat façade.The Sydney Opera House in Figure 14 is a different piece of architecture.Serial graded expansion of shell structures and slight oblique lie of the twin rows of shells with the tone gradation give a great 3-dimension feel to this work of art.The long twin vertical highlight of the shell peaks draws the slightly divergent shell rows together.

3.6 Discussion The image we perceive in the visual cortex is a sensation and their incoming components have been enumerated.This work is in its infancy;more will be unravelled in the future.Brightness is a function of intensity and colour.Colours of the same intensity in the middle of the spectrum look brighter than those at the end.Markers for night visibility are of these spectral hues i.e.orange and green.

The image projected at the back of the retina is an inverted image.The retinas are divided vertically in half down the midline.The nerve fibres from each outer half goes to the same side of the brain while the nerve fibres from the inner halves go to the opposite sides of the brain.The processed“re-inverted”fused image is a sensory perception.Perception of depth is provided by convergence，disparity＇s stereoscopic vision and motion parallax.Monocular unlike binocular vision lacks visual depth and solid objects do not have a 3-dimension appearance.

Good solid objects such as the face，body regions，garments and architectural structures with good surface relief provide good pilasters or highlight borders/margins;together with serial expanding sections a good well dimension visual sensation is perceived by the brain.A harmonious adequate congruent highlight structure in an object is a beautiful sensation to behold.Figure 15［6］shows an attractive face with congruent well-defined highlight pilasters(intra facial margins or borders)giving it a good three-dimension projection.In some，the highlights can be too strong;these faces are photogenic as the“monocular”camera tones down the depth effect and strong highlights.A-morphous facial features with poor highlight margins and large expanses of even light have a flat round moon-face appearance-this is more apparent than real.

4 Conclusion

Applying the principles of dimension enhancement，realignment and promotion of adequate congruent highlight structures and Muller-Lyer principles of illusion［3-5］in pre-operative planning the results of aesthetic surgery have been enhanced in the author＇s hands.These principles are equally applicable to the art of painting and architecture.

5 Acknowledgements

I would like to thank Michael Esson，Director International Drawing Research Institute，College of Fine Art，University of New South Wales，Australia for his help in crystallising my concepts and ideas.

［1］ Millard DR Jr:Principalisation of Surgery.Little，Brown and Company，Boson/Toronto.Page 80-89，1986.

［2］ Gregory RL Eye and Brain.The psychology of seeing.Princeton University Press.Princeton and Oxford.Page 87，Fifth Edition 1997.

［3］ Mackay DM.“Interactive process in visual perception”in Sensory Communication.Ed.W A Rossenblitz，MIT Press and Wiley，1961.

［4］ Ho Lawrence CY.Rejuvenative Facial Lipomorphoplasty.Aesth Plast Surg，24:22.2000.

［5］ Ho Lawrence CY.Refinements in Rejuvenative Lipomorphoplasty.Aesth Plast Surg，26，5.2002.

［6］ Ho Lawrence CY.Facial Optimisation Chinese J.Aesth Surg，22:11.Nov 1，2011.

［7］ Muller-Lyer Optische Urteilstauschungen.Archives of pysiologie.Suppl.Page 263-270，1989.

［8］ Ponzo M.Intorno ad alcure illusione nel cal campo delle sensione di Aristole efe fenomeni analogie.Archive Italiennes de Biologie，1911.

Running Head:Visuality

Disclosure:The author has no financial interest to declare in relation to the content of this article