Question

When you enter a dark theater on a bright day, it takes an appreciable interval of time before you can see well enough to find an empty seat. Which of the computational processes of the human visual system explained in the Gonzales and Woods text book are at play in this situation and how?

Answer 1

As we do not have the text book, we cannot link the answer to that information. However, we can still try to explain what the process is like for the eyes to adjust to the dark.

The phenomenon described in this example is known as "dark adaptation." This usually takes about 20-30 seconds, depending on the intensity of the light in the previous surroundings (in this case, it was a bright day). The reason why we are able to see in a wide variety of environments is because of the photoreceptors found in our retina. These are light-sensitive cells, and are divided into cones and rods. The interaction of cones (day vision) and rods (night vision) is what results in "dark adaptation."