Michael Murdoch Headshot

Michael Murdoch

Head of the Integrated Sciences Academy

Integrated Sciences Academy
College of Science
mmpocs@rit.edu
585-475-7189
Office Location
COL-1077
Office Mailing Address
54 Lomb Memorial Drive, Munsell Color Science Laboratory, Rochester, Ny 14623

Michael Murdoch

Head of the Integrated Sciences Academy

Integrated Sciences Academy
College of Science

Education

BS, Cornell University; MS, Rochester Institute of Technology; Ph.D., Eindhoven University of Technology

Bio

Michael studies the human visual perception of color, light, and materials in real and virtual spaces. He teaches graduate level courses in Color Science. He previously worked for Philips Research in Eindhoven, The Netherlands, and for Kodak Research Labs in Rochester, NY, USA, studying color and perception with applications in LED lighting, computer graphics, LCD, and OLED displays, inkjet printing, and motion picture film.

mmpocs@rit.edu
585-475-7189
Personal Links
Personal Website
Google Scholar
Areas of Expertise
Color Vision
Perception
Psychophysics
Displays
LED Lighting
Augmented Reality
AR
Graphics
Color Science

Select Scholarship

Published Conference Proceedings
Murdoch, Michael J. "From Polaroid to augmented reality: The enduring advantages of white borders." Proceedings of the Electronic Imaging: Human Vision in Electronic Imaging. Ed. Mantiuk. Burlingame, CA: Society for Imaging Science and Technology, 2025. Web.
Murdoch, Michael J. "Keynote: Transparency and Scission in Augmented Reality." Proceedings of the Electronic Imaging: Human Vision in Electronic Imaging. Ed. Mantiuk. Burlingame, CA: Society for Imaging Science and Technology, 2025. Web.
Canham, Trevor D., et al. "Gamma Maps: Non-linear Gain Maps for HDR Reconstruction." Proceedings of the London Imaging Meeting 2024. Ed. IS&T. London, UK: Society for Imaging Science and Technology, 2024. Web.
Pei, Eddie, Susan Farnand, and Michael J. Murdoch. "Connecting Individual Color Matching Functions to Accuracy and Preference in Image Reproduction." Proceedings of the 32nd Color and Imaging Conference. Ed. IS&T. Montreal, Canada: Society for Imaging Science and Technology, 2024. Web.
Lluch, Juan Serra, Mekides Assefa Abebe, and Michael J Murdoch. "Virtual reality to evaluate the amplitude of interiors with different colors." Proceedings of the XX International Congress of Architectural Graphic Expression. Ed. NA. Coruña-Porto, Portugal: EGA, 2023. Web.
Amawi, Rema and Michael J Murdoch. "Relating Color Associations to Pill Colors and Expected Efficacy." Proceedings of the 30th Color and Imaging Conference. Ed. Jérémie Gerhardt and Anya Hurlbert. Scottsdale, AZ: Society for Imaging Science and Technology, 2022. Web.
Downs, Tucker and Michael J Murdoch. "Color Layer Scissioning in See-Through Augmented Reality." Proceedings of the 29th Color and Imaging Conference. Ed. na. Online, Online: Society for Imaging Science and Technology, 2021. Web.
Jiang, Fu, et al. "Visual Sensitivity to "Perfect" Black." Proceedings of the Society for Information Display Symposium. Ed. SID. San Jose, CA: Society for Information Display, 2021. Web.
Park, Yongmin, Michael J. Murdoch, and Mark D. Fairchild. "Observer Metamerism: Why do [Mis]Matches of Neutral Appear Pinkish or Greenish?" Proceedings of the IS&T 28th Color and Imaging Conference. Ed. Maria Vanrell. Springfield, VA: Society for Imaging Science and Technology, 2020. Web.
Park, Yongmin and Michael J. Murdoch. "Effect of Color Gamut and luminance on observer Metamerism in HDR Displays." Proceedings of the IS&T 28th Color and Imaging Conference. Ed. Maria Vanrell. Springfield, VA: Society for Imaging Science and Technology, 2020. Web.
Murdoch, Michael J. "Invited Paper: Color and Brightness in Optical See-Through Augmented Reality Display Systems." Proceedings of the Proceedings of the International Display Workshops. Ed. Reiji Hattori. Fukuoka, Japan: Society for Information Display, 2020. Web.
Royer, Michael, et al. "Improved System for Evaluating and Specifying the Chromaticity of Light Sources." Proceedings of the IES Annual Conference. Ed. Antonio A. Garza. New York, NY: Illuminating Engineering Society, 2020. Web.
Spieringhs, Rik M., Michael J. Murdoch, and Ingrid M.L.C. Vogels. "Time Course of Chromatic Adaptation Under Dynamic Lighting." Proceedings of the IS&T 27th Color and Imaging Conference: October 2019, Paris, France. Ed. Nicolas Bonnier. Springfield, VA: Society for Imaging Science and Technology, 2019. Web.
Canham, Trevor, Michael J. Murdoch, and David Long. "Influence of Ambient Chromaticity on Portable Display Color Appearance." Proceedings of the SMPTE Technical Conference, 22-28 Oct, 2018, Los Angeles. Ed. Peter Putman. Los Angeles, CA: SMPTE, 2018. Web.
Murdoch, Michael J. and Mark D. Fairchild. "Effects of Inter-Observer Variation on Color Rendering Metrics." Proceedings of the 24th Color and Imaging Conference. Ed. Philipp Urban. San Diego, CA: IS&T, 2016. Print.
Journal Paper
Herbeck, Sofie R., Michael J. Murdoch, and Christopher A. Thorstenson. "Adjusting Transparency Toward Optimizing Face Appearance in Optical See-Through Augmented Reality." Journal of Perceptual Imaging 7. (2024): 1-12. Web.
Royer, Michael, et al. "Improved Method for Evaluating and Specifying the Chromaticity of Light Sources." LEUKOS. (2022): 1-18. Web.
Yuan, Yue, Michael J Murdoch, and Mark D. Fairchild. "A multiprimary lighting system for customized color stimuli." Color Research and Application 47. 1 (2022): 74-91. Web.
Royer, Michael, et al. "Improved Method for Evaluating and Specifying the Chromaticity of Light Sources." LEUKOS 19. 1 (2023): 35-52. Web.
Amawi, Rema and Michael J Murdoch. "Effects of pill colors on human perception and expectation of drugs' efficacy." Color Research and Application 47. 5 (2022): 1200-1215. Web.
Amawi, Rema and Michael J Murdoch. "Understanding Color Associations and Their Effects on Expectations of Drugs’ Efficacies." Pharmacy 10. 4 (2022): 82. Web.
Weymouth, Abigayle and Michael J Murdoch. "Speed perception of dynamic lighting around daylight." Journal of the International Colour Association 31. (2022): 30-39. Web.
Yuan, Yue, Michael J Murdoch, and Mark D. Fairchild. "A multiprimary lighting system for customized color stimuli." Color Research and Application 47. 1 (2022): 74-91. Web.
Park, Yongmin and Michael J Murdoch. "Efficiently evaluating the effect of color gamut and spectral bandwidth on observer metamerism in high dynamic range displays." Journal of the Society for Information Display 29. 9 (2021): 704-722. Web.
Zhang, Lili, Michael J Murdoch, and Romain Bachy. "Color appearance shift in augmented reality metameric matching." Journal of the Optical Society of America A 38. 5 (2021): 701-710. Web.
Kong, Xiangzhen, et al. "Assessing the temporal uniformity of CIELAB hue angle." Journal of the Optical Society of America A 37. 4 (2020): 521-528. Web.
Xie, Hao, Susan P. Farnand, and Michael J. Murdoch. "Observer Metamerism in Commercial Displays." Journal of the Optical Society of America A 37. 4 (2020): A61-A69. Web.
Park, Yongmin and Michael J. Murdoch. "Image Quality Equivalence Between Peak Luminance and Chromaticity Gamut." Journal of the Society for Information Display. (2020): 1-18. Web.
Murdoch, Michael J. "Brightness Matching in Optical See-through Augmented Reality." Journal of the Optical Society of America A 37. 12 (2020): 1927-1936. Web.
KONG, XIANGZHEN, et al. "Perceived Speed of Changing Color in Chroma and Hue Directions in CIELAB." Journal of the Optical Society of America A 36. 6 (2019): 1022-1032. Web.
Murdoch, Michael J. "Dynamic Color Control in Multiprimary Tunable LED Lighting Systems." Journal of the Society for Information Display. (2019): 1-11. Web.
Hassani, Nargess and Michael J. Murdoch. "Investigating Color Appearance in Optical See-through Augmented Reality." Color Research and Application 44. 4 (2019): 492-507. Web.
Zhang, Lili and Michael J. Murdoch. "Color Matching Criteria in Augmented Reality." Journal of Perceptual Imaging 1. 1 (2018): 10506-1 - 10506-8. Web.
Murdoch, Michael J. "Characterization and Control of a Multi-Primary LED Light Lab." Optics Express 25. 24 (2017): 29605-29616. Web.
Murdoch, Michael J. and Mark D. Fairchild. "Modelling the Effects of Inter-Observer Variation on Colour Rendition." Lighting Research & Technology. (2017): 1-18. Print.
Murdoch, M J, M G M Stokkermans, and M Lambooij. "Towards Perceptual Accuracy in 3D Visualizations of Illuminated Indoor Environments." Journal of Solid State Lighting 2. 12 (2015): 1-19. Web.
Book Chapter
Murdoch, Michael J. "Colour in AR and VR." Fundamentals and Applications of Colour Engineering. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley and Sons, 2023. 335-354. Print.
Peer Reviewed/Juried Poster Presentation or Conference Paper
Li, Zilong and Michael J Murdoch. "Improving Naturalness in Transparent Augmented Reality with Image Gamma and Black Level." Proceedings of the 30th Color and Imaging Conference,. Ed. Jérémie Gerhardt and Anya Hurlbert. Scottsdale, AZ: Society for Imaging Science and Technology.
Zhang, Lili and Michael J Murdoch. "Perceived Transparency in Optical See-Through Augmented Reality." Proceedings of the 2021 IEEE International Symposium on Mixed and Augmented Reality Adjunct (ISMAR-Adjunct). Ed. na. Bari, Italy: IEEE.
Zhang, Lili and Michael J Murdoch. "How Bright Should It Be: Diffuse White in Optical See-Through Augmented Reality." Proceedings of the Frameless XR Symposium. Ed. Susan Lakin. Rochester, NY: Frameless Labs.
Xie, Hao, et al. "Color Mismatches across Commercial Displays: Modeling the Effect of Observer Metamerism." Proceedings of the 2019 SID Technical Symposium. Ed. NA. San Jose, CA: Society for Information Display.
Leary, Sara and Michael J. Murdoch. "Manipulating Object Lightness in Augmented Reality." Proceedings of the ACM Symposium on Applied Perception. Ed. Betsy Sanders. Vancouver, BC: Association for Computing Machinery (ACM).
Xie, Hao, et al. "Psychophysics in Color Science Education: Two Case Studies." Proceedings of the Munsell Centennial Color Symposium Bridging Science, Art, & Industry. Ed. Paula Alessi and Maggie Maggio. Boston, MA: Inter-Society Color Council.
Murdoch, Michael J. and Susan Farnand. "Tools for Online Color Science Education: Color Order, Color Vision, and Color Measurement." Proceedings of the Munsell Centennial Color Symposium Bridging Science, Art, & Industry. Ed. Paula Alessi and Maggie Maggio. Boston, MA: Inter-Society Color Council.
Murdoch, Michael J., et al. "Dynamic Color Perception: How Fast are the Munsell Hues?" Proceedings of the Munsell Centennial Color Symposium Bridging Science, Art, & Industry. Ed. Paula Alessi and Maggie Maggio. Boston, MA: Inter-Society Color Council.
Hassani, Nargess and Michael J. Murdoch. "Color Appearance Modeling in Augmented Reality." Proceedings of the Symposium on Applied Perception, 22-23 July, 2016, Anaheim, CA, USA. Ed. Andrew Robb, Clemson University. Anaheim, CA: Association for Computing Machinery (ACM).
Invited Keynote/Presentation
Murdoch, Michael J. "Color in Layers: From Pepper’s Ghost to Augmented Reality." AIC 2022 Sensing Color. AIC. Toronto, Canada. 15 Jun. 2022. Keynote Speech.
Murdoch, Michael J. "Color from Real Reality to Extended Reality." 3rd International Symposium for Color Science and Art. Tokyo Polytechnic University. Tokyo, Japan. 12 Mar. 2022. Keynote Speech.
Rhyne, Theresa-Marie, et al. "SIGGRAPH 2018 Panel: Color Mavens Advise on Digital Media Creation and Tools." SIGGRAPH 2018. ACM SIGGRAPH. Vancouver, BC. 11 Aug. 2018. Lecture.
Invited Article/Publication
Murdoch, Michael J. "Dynamic Color Control in Multiprimary Tunable LED Lighting Systems." SID 2019 Digest of Technical Papers. (2019). Web.

Currently Teaching

CLRS-601
Principles of Color Science
3 Credits
This course covers the principles of color science including theory, application, and hands-on experience incorporated into the lectures. Topics include color appearance (hue, lightness, brightness, chroma, saturation, colorfulness), colorimetry (spectral, XYZ, xyY, L*a*b*, L*C*abhab, ∆E*ab, ∆E00), the use of linear algebra in color science and color imaging, metamerism, chromatic adaptation, color inconstancy, color rendering, color appearance models (CIECAM02), and image appearance models (S-CIELAB, iCAM).
CLRS-790
Research & Thesis
1 - 6 Credits
Masters-level research by the candidate on an appropriate topic as arranged between the candidate and the research advisor.
CLRS-799
Color Science Independent Study
1 - 4 Credits
CLRS-890
Research & Thesis
1 - 6 Credits
Masters-level research by the candidate on an appropriate topic as arranged between the candidate and the research advisor.

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