Saturday, May 17, 2025, 12:45 – 2:15 pm EDT, Banyan/Citrus

Organizers: Noah Britt (McMaster University); Victoria Jacoby, (Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School); and Jes Parker (University of Tennessee-Knoxville)
Moderator: Geoffrey Boynton (University of Washington)
Speakers: Kirsten Adam (Rice University); Dennis Levi (University of California, Berkeley); Ming Meng (South China Normal University); Philipp Musfeld (University of Zurich)

The VSS-SPC invites you to a panel discussion on the role of open science in vision research and academic publishing. Invited speakers will explore the principles of open science—why it matters, how to implement it, and its impact on research transparency and reproducibility. We will also have additional speakers that will share and discuss how open science practices influence publishing and editorial processes in top peer-reviewed journals. The session will conclude with a valuable 30-minute Q&A, giving attendees the opportunity to engage directly with all our well-esteemed speakers. Join us for an insightful discussion on navigating open science, publishing high-quality research, and shaping the future of scholarly communication.

Kirsten Adam

Rice University

Kirsten Adam is an Assistant Professor of Psychological Sciences at Rice University. Her work uses neural methods (EEG, fMRI) and behavior to characterize fundamental constraints on visual attention and working memory. Dr. Adam earned a B.S. in Biological Sciences at the University of Notre Dame, an M.S. in Cognitive Neuroscience at the University of Oregon, and a Ph.D. in Cognitive Psychology at the University of Chicago. Website: https://adamlab.rice.edu/

Dennis Levi

University of California, Berkeley

Dennis M. Levi is an American Professor at the University of California, Berkeley with appointments in the Herbert Wertheim School of Optometry & Vision Science, and the Helen Wills Neuroscience Institute. He received his diploma in Optometry in 1967 from the Witwatersrand School of Optometry, in Johannesburg, South Africa. His research focuses on how we see form and depth, and how these are impacted by abnormal early visual development, particularly amblyopia and strabismus. He has published more than 300 scientific papers and two books. His work has been cited almost 30,000 times and he has an h-index of 87 (Google Scholar). His research has been funded by the National Eye Institute (NEI) since 1976.

Ming Meng

South China Normal University

Ming Meng earned his Ph.D. from Princeton University, completed postdoctoral training at MIT, and was a faculty member at Dartmouth College. He currently holds a Pearl River Scholar Distinguished Professorship at South China Normal University, and serves for the Board of Reviewing Editors (BRE) of eLife as well as a Consulting Editor for Visual Cognition. His lab explores the neural mechanisms underlying visual cognition and attention, both with and without visual awareness. These mechanisms are linked to activity within the broader visual processing and attentional neural networks, spanning the occipital, temporal, and parietal lobes in both hemispheres. His research sheds light on normal behavioral patterns and enhances our understanding of neurological disorders.

Philipp Musfeld

University of Zurich

Philipp Musfeld is a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Zurich. He employs behavioral, computational, and neural methods (EEG) to investigate the information exchange between visual working memory and long-term memory. Parts of his work also concern the improvement of theory development, methodologies, and scientific practice in psychological research. Dr. Musfeld earned a B.S. in Psychology at the University of Cologne, an M.S. in Psychology at the University of Bonn, and a PhD in Cognitive Psychology at the University of Zurich.

Website: https://www.psychology.uzh.ch/en/areas/nec/allgpsy/team/postdoc/pmusfeld.html

Geoffrey Boynton

University of Washington

Geoffrey Boynton, is a VSS Board Member and studies visual attention, reading and prosthetic vision. After studying mathematics at U.C. San Diego and U.C. Santa Barbara, Dr. Boynton received a PhD in Psychology and Cognitive Sciences at U.C. Santa Barbara in 1994. After a decade at the Salk Institute in La Jolla, CA, he joined the faculty at the University of Washington. In 2019 led an effort to develop a research MRI facility at the new Center for Human Neuroscience in the Department of Psychology which he now directs. He also teaches courses on visual perception and statistics.

Monday, May 19, 2025, 2:30 – 4:00 pm EDT, Banyan/Citrus

Organizers: Akihito Maruya, State University of New York; Amy Bucklaew, University of Rochester; and Brady Roberts, University of Chicago (VSS Student-Postdoc Advisory Committee); Shin’ya Nishida (VSS Board of Directors)
Moderator: Akihito Maruya, State University of New York
Speakers: Frank Tong, Vanderbilt University; Michael F. Bonner, Johns Hopkins University; Kohitij Kar, York University

In recent years, AI has made remarkable progress, becoming increasingly accessible and implementable even for individuals without extensive expertise in computer science. Visual AI, a subset of artificial intelligence, empowers machines to interpret and understand the visual world. Recent advances have demonstrated AI’s value in modeling the visual cortex, predicting neural responses, simulating eye-tracking behavior, and analyzing psychophysical data. As AI technology becomes widely adopted, it is critical to understand the principles of its successes as well as its challenges.

This review begins by exploring how AI has empowered visual neuroscientists to unravel aspects of visual processing that were previously beyond reach. We will also examine how the similarity between AI and human vision can be quantified. While AI models can mimic human visual processing to some extent, they often produce percepts that deviate significantly from human perception, such as susceptibility to hallucinations or inversion effects. Understanding these differences raises an intriguing question: how can visual scientists help guide AI to align more closely with human visual perception? We will delve into the key differences between AI and human vision, uncover the reasons for these disparities—such as biases in training data and fundamental computational differences—and explore strategies to make AI systems emulate human visual processing more effectively.

Finally, while AI is a rapidly evolving technology with the potential to revolutionize research and innovation, it also brings substantial ethical challenges. For instance, when tools like ChatGPT generate code, the output is often built upon the contributions of others, yet those contributions may not be adequately recognized. This underscores the importance of addressing issues like training data bias, privacy concerns, and the steep learning curve required to grasp foundational AI principles. In this review, we will highlight these challenges and provide insights into fostering a deeper understanding of AI ethics, emphasizing the responsibility of integrating AI into scientific workflows thoughtfully and equitably.

Frank Tong

Vanderbilt University

Frank Tong is a Centennial Professor of Psychology and Professor of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences at Vanderbilt University. He completed his PhD studies at Harvard University (1995-1999) working with Ken Nakayama and Nancy Kanwisher. His early research capitalized on functional MRI to investigate the neural bases of face processing and visual awareness, followed by the development of novel techniques to decode feature-selective responses from the human visual cortex to characterize their role in attentional selection and visual working memory. In recent years, he has been captivated by noteworthy similarities and striking divergences between the human visual system and current deep neural network models. His research has been recognized by YIA awards from the Vision Sciences Society, Cognitive Neuroscience Society, and the Troland Award from the National Academy of Sciences. Frank has previously served on the VSS Board of Directors and currently serves on the NIH Neuroscience of Basic Visual Processes study section panel.

Michael F. Bonner

Johns Hopkins University

Mick Bonner is an Assistant Professor of Cognitive Science at Johns Hopkins University, where he leads the Cognitive Neuroscience & Deep Learning Group. His work uses computational methods, including deep neural networks and advanced statistical techniques, in combination with neuroimaging and behavioral studies to understand the visual system of the human brain. The goal of this work is to identify the statistical principles that govern the representations of visual cortex and to build theoretically grounded models of how these representations are computed from sensory inputs. Before joining the Cognitive Science Department at Johns Hopkins, Mick completed a PhD in Neuroscience and a postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Pennsylvania.

Akihito Maruya

State University of New York

Akihito Maruya is a PhD student with Qasim Zaidi at the SUNY Graduate Center for Vision Research in NYC and Chair of the VSS Student-Postdoc Advisory Committee. He studies 3D perception in scenes and pictures, perception of rigid and non-rigid 3D objects, and form distortions perceived by adult and children amblyopes, using psychophysics and computational models.

Sunday, May 19, 2024, 1:00 – 2:00 pm EDT, Snowy Egret

Organizers: Claudia Damiano, University of Toronto and Stephanie Shields, University of Texas at Austin (VSS Student-Postdoc Advisory Committee); Jody Culham (VSS Board of Directors)
Moderator: Claudia Damiano, University of Toronto
Speakers: Robert Geirhos, Google DeepMind; Kim Meier, University of Houston; Joan Ongchoco, University of British Columbia: Woon Ju Park, University of Washington; Jake Whritner, Exponent

Back by popular demand! Following requests to repeat last year’s event, the VSS-SPC is hosting a panel discussion on early career transitions, from the undergraduate level up through securing faculty positions and jobs outside of academia. A panel of vision scientists with a variety of chosen career paths will discuss their stories, the transitions they’ve gone through in their careers, and how they made the key decisions that led them to their current jobs. After each panelist gives an overview of their story, audience members will be invited to participate in a question-and-answer session with the panel. The panel will include representatives from both academia and industry, so attendees will hear firsthand perspectives both on navigating academia and on transitioning between academia and industry. Especially given the recent layoffs in industry and the pandemic’s lasting impact on hiring in higher education, we hope the panel will provide useful insights into current trends affecting early career researchers and ideas for how trainees can increase their chances of success in today’s professional landscape.

Kim Meier

Assistant Professor, College of Optometry, University of Houston

Kim Meier spent a few years at community college trying out a few things before transferring to Simon Fraser University where she discovered research is fun, and obtained a BA in cognitive science and psychology. She then attended the University of British Columbia where she earned a PhD, and did a postdoc at the University of Washington. Now, she is Assistant Professor in the College of Optometry at the University of Houston. Overall, her work aims to understand how the visual parts of the brain typically develop, how this development is impacted when a person has prolonged atypical visual experience during childhood, and how perceptual abilities change as a function of treatment success. Her research tools include psychophysics, EEG, MRI, and eye-tracking. 

Joan Ongchoco

Assistant Professor, University of British Columbia

Joan Ongchoco is an incoming Assistant Professor at the University of British Columbia and the director of the UBC Perception & Cognition Lab.  Before starting her lab, she decided to pursue a postdoctoral research fellowship at Humboldt Universität zu Berlin with Martin Rolfs. Prior to this, she obtained her PhD from Yale University, where she worked primarily with Brian Scholl. Joan is interested in the ways that perception — especially what we *see* — can interact with broader mental life. This includes exploring varieties of ‘everyday hallucinations’ we experience, as well as the consequences of event boundaries (such as doorways) on perception, memory, and decision-making. Her work draws connections across multiple areas and disciplines. She is the recipient of the 2021 William James Prize awarded by the Society of Philosophy and Psychology.

Woon Ju Park

Research Scientist, University of Washington

Woon Ju Park is an incoming Assistant Professor in Psychology at Georgia Institute of Technology starting this August. She completed her PhD in Brain and Cognitive Science from the University of Rochester working with Dr. Duje Tadin. She is currently a NIH K99/R00 Pathway to Independence fellow and Research Scientist in Dr. Ione Fine’s lab at the University of Washington. Woon Ju is particularly interested in understanding how experience and atypical development affect sensory processing. She has studied this in diverse human populations, including children with ASD, older adults, and those with early or late-onset visual impairments. Her current research focuses on understanding the effects of early blindness on the structure and function of the brain. To learn more about Woon Ju’s academic journey and current research, please visit her website. 

Jake Whritner

Human Factors Senior Scientist, Exponent

Jake Whritner earned his PhD in Psychology from the University of Texas at Austin, where he used human psychophysics to study 3D motion perception. His dissertation work tested the contribution of various depth and motion cues that the human visual system relies on to interact with the dynamic 3D world. At Exponent, Jake extends his expertise to practical applications, such as analyzing human factors related to motor vehicle accidents, warnings, and slip/trip and falls. He also uses mixed methods to assess user behavior to inform product design and risk assessment through surveys, interviews, and user studies.

Claudia Damiano (Moderator)

Postdoctoral Researcher, University of Toronto

Claudia Damiano is a Research Associate (senior postdoctoral researcher) at the University of Toronto, working with Dirk Bernhardt-Walther. She previously completed a postdoctoral fellowship in Leuven, Belgium, working with Johan Wagemans. Broadly, her research aims to understand how visual features impact aesthetic preferences and guide attention. Her work contributes to our understanding of the relationship between human perception and the appreciation of natural environments. Claudia has served as a panelist on similar early-career panels, offering advice to Master’s and PhD students about transitioning to a postdoc position. As a moderator, she will ensure that the panel offers valuable insights and actionable advice to attendees.