Matthew Luckiesh DSc, DE, (September 14, 1883 Maquoketa, Iowa – November 2, 1967 Shaker Heights, Ohio) was a physicist and, as the Director of General Electric's Lighting Research Laboratory at its Nela Park National Lamps Works facility in East Cleveland, Ohio, he pursued research on light and vision.
He was also interested in determining the conditions under which optimal visibility was achieved, and in examining the relationship between light and seeing, in order to design better types of lamps.
While "defining visibility using brightness-contrast as the primary variable" in his 1944 book, Light vision and Seeing, Luckiesh presents the 'Visibility Meter', developed in collaboration with Frank Moss.
The device, used over a wide range of lighting applications, consists of a pair of similar photographic gradient filters, which increase in density when rotated together before the eyes.
[2] The filters thus reduce the apparent brightness of the observed field while lowering the contrast between the object of view and its background.