# Hollow Face Lab Source: https://mesmerprism.com/projects/hollow-face-lab.html Canonical HTML: https://mesmerprism.com/projects/hollow-face-lab.html Generated: 2026-05-26 Description: Hollow Face Lab maps WebGL, WebXR, and Rusty XR implementation choices against hollow-face and depth-inversion research. Markdown: https://mesmerprism.com/projects/hollow-face-lab.md Plain text: https://mesmerprism.com/projects/hollow-face-lab.txt BibTeX references: https://mesmerprism.com/projects/hollow-face-lab.bib CSL JSON references: https://mesmerprism.com/projects/hollow-face-lab.references.csl.json --- Depth inversion and research tooling # Hollow Face Lab The hollow-face and hollow-mask illusion exposes a difficult boundary between bottom-up depth cues and top-down face interpretation. Hollow Face Lab treats that boundary as an instrument problem: a concave face stimulus has to run flat in a browser, enter WebXR where supported, and later connect with Rusty XR / OpenXR lab runtimes while preserving source-traceable variables. The goal is to make the hollow-face illusion testable in browser and XR settings, not merely to show a convincing illusion. Public use starts with comparing how concavity, texture, lighting, stereo/XR status, and response timing change the illusion. [Evidence map](https://mesmerprism.com/projects/hollow-face-lab.html#source-map) [Implementation](https://mesmerprism.com/projects/hollow-face-lab.html#implementation) [References](https://mesmerprism.com/projects/hollow-face-lab.html#references) [Rusty XR](https://mesmerprism.com/projects/rusty-xr.html) Instrument problem ## From illusion demo to instrument The hollow-face illusion is useful because a concave face can be experienced as convex even when some depth cues point the other way. The app is therefore being built around logged variables rather than a single polished visual trick: mesh identity, concavity, texture/noise, lighting, material, stereo/XR status, local probes, response timing, and runtime quality all need to survive export. Published sources and implementation choices have to stay separate: evidence can support variables and caveats without turning every design idea into an established finding. ### Source-backed variables - Orientation, face familiarity, pigmentation, and shading. - Realistic face texture versus random-dot or noise texture. - Stereo, motion parallax, depth scaling, and local probe targets. - Perceptual report, slow action, rapid action, and vergence as separable channels. ### Open design variables - Triangle-particle surfaces and mesh oversampling as gestalt manipulations. - Feature apertures around eyes, mouth, and nostrils. - Shadow-factorial and specular-reflection conditions. - Rights-reviewed face-mesh families beyond the V0 baseline mesh. Implementation stack ## Flat web, WebXR, and Rusty XR V0 is a Three.js/WebGL browser app with WebXR session detection and flat-web fallback. It currently uses the Apache-2.0 MediaPipe canonical face OBJ as a neutral runtime baseline. That asset is useful for topology, UVs, and coordinate mapping, but it is not being presented as an accepted hollow-face research mesh. The longer-term stack keeps three evidence tiers separate: flat browser use for public/low-control tasks, WebXR for browser-based immersive sessions where supported, and a later lab-native Rusty XR / OpenXR lane for controlled HMD studies, action endpoints, eye tracking, and timing-sensitive instrumentation. ### Current V0 controls - Concave/convex face mode and concavity depth scale. - Lighting presets with explicit key, fill, ambient, and reflectance values. - Feature aperture modes for eyes, mouth, and nostrils. - Native and oversampled mesh resolutions. - Continuous mesh and triangle-particle rendering. - Global and local response logging with confidence and timing. ### Study scope - No diagnostic, therapeutic, or psychosis-prediction claim. - No unsupervised strobe or physiology module in V0. - No third-party asset import without a license and provenance note. - No silent pooling of flat-web, WebXR, and lab-native data. References ## Current references These links anchor the current implementation map. Some sources support scientific variables; others support asset provenance or runtime standards. ### Hollow-face research - Hill and Johnston. "[The hollow-face illusion: Object-specific knowledge, general assumptions or properties of the stimulus?](https://ro.uow.edu.au/ndownloader/files/50499303)" Perception , 2007. - Krolikzak, Heard, Goodale, and Gregory. "[Dissociation of perception and action unmasked by the hollow-face illusion.](https://www.uwo.ca/bmi/goodalelab/pdf/hollow_face.pdf)" Brain Research , 2006. - Grosjean, Rinkenauer, and Jainta. "[Where Do the Eyes Really Go in the Hollow-Face Illusion?](https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0044706)" PLOS ONE , 2012. - Keane, Silverstein, Wang, and Papathomas. "[Reduced Depth Inversion Illusions in Schizophrenia Are State-Specific and Occur for Multiple Object Types and Viewing Conditions.](https://ruccs.rutgers.edu/faculty/pylyshyn/Proseminar13/Keane-Papathomas_Depth-Schizophrenia_JournAbn.pdf)" Journal of Abnormal Psychology , 2013. - Farkas, Papathomas, Silverstein, Kourtev, and Papayanopoulos. "[Dynamic 3-D computer graphics for designing a diagnostic tool for patients with schizophrenia.](https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC5156401/)" The Visual Computer , 2016. ### Implementation and provenance - Google AI Edge / MediaPipe. "[canonical_face_model.obj](https://github.com/google-ai-edge/mediapipe/blob/master/mediapipe/modules/face_geometry/data/canonical_face_model.obj)" and "[Apache-2.0 license route](https://github.com/google-ai-edge/mediapipe/blob/master/LICENSE)." - W3C Immersive Web Working Group. "[WebXR Device API.](https://www.w3.org/TR/webxr/)" Candidate Recommendation Draft. - MDN Web Docs. "[WebXR Device API.](https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/API/WebXR_Device_API)" Browser support and secure-context notes. - Khronos Group. "[glTF 2.0 Specification.](https://registry.khronos.org/glTF/specs/2.0/glTF-2.0.html)" Runtime-neutral 3D asset format. - Khronos Group. "[OpenXR Registry.](https://registry.khronos.org/OpenXR/)" Native XR runtime route for later lab builds. - Michael Bach. "[Rotating face mask.](https://michaelbach.de/ot/fcs-hollowFace/)" Teaching/demo reference, not an implementation source to copy.