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Visual observation is one of the primary means to interact with the world around us. However, the interplay of geometry, material, and illumination in the perception of objects is still not entirely understood.

It is generally accepted that the shape of objects influences the perception of their material appearance. In this paper we investigate and quantify the influence of shape on gloss perception in a realistic setting, using a general cue combination framework and likelihood analysis. Our results show that this influence can be quantified, and that a simple additive model between the shape cue and the actual gloss cue adequately describes this influence.

This paper contributes to a deeper understanding of the perception of objects, and also enables new applications such as a material selection tool that corrects for the influence of gloss when switching between shapes. This improves the intuitiveness of material …