Motion-Induced Blindness

[Datesfat Chicks]

This came my way:

http://www.msf-usa.org/motion.html

[Bob Myers]

On Tuesday, May 15, 2012 6:28:50 PM UTC-4, Datesfat Chicks wrote:
> This came my way:
>
> http://www.msf-usa.org/motion.html

Nice demo, but it's not actually "motion induced blindness." Quite the opposite, in fact. It is NON-motion that is "inducing the blindness." Our eyes work basically by sensing differences and changes; if a given object remains fixed within the field of view for too long, the eye essentially "gets tired of seeing it" and it fades from view. The rotating blue grid in this demo remains visible because it IS moving within the visual field, while the yellow dots seem to fade away because they are not.

In real life, you tend not to be quite so fixated on one specific point that this effect occurs, but it can happen. Unless you are intentionally fixing your gaze on a point (as in this demo), the natural tendency is for the direction of your gaze to shift around. Even if you head is kept stationary, your eyes experience small, very rapid movements (called "saccades") which tend to keep any one point on the retina from being exposed to the same stimulus for too long. (Among other things; these small, rapid motions of the eye also serve to improve the perceived resolution across the center of the field of view.)

Bob M.

[Fraser Johnston]

This is why when I see a car in a sides treet I weave in my lane a bit
so they see me.

--

Fraser