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Category Archives: The brain and visual perception
Oliver Sacks
More sad news. Oliver Sacks has just died. There is a moving TED blog here. Advertisements
Marl Twain and the Catching Reflex
Somewhere in Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain there is a famous episode where Huck, a boy, masquerades as a girl. Wanting somewhere to stay, he is taken in by a Mrs Loftus, but after a while as they talk she … Continue reading
A Tale Of Two Polychromats
This gorgeous but rather disturbing creature is a mantis shrimp. It looks like an alien being, and indeed it has superpowers! But it’s not an alien. Nor a mantis. Nor a shrimp. But it looks a little bit like … Continue reading
The Colour of Nothing
Recently Belgian Artist Frederik De Wilde exhibited a square blacker than any human being has ever seen before. Blackboards look black but actually reflect as much as 10% of the light falling on them. De Wilde’s black square reflects 0.01% … Continue reading
Posted in 101 experiments in seeing, Art and vision, Blindness and visual impairment, The brain and visual perception, Uncategorized
Tagged 101 Experiments in Seeing, black square, Blind, blind spot, de wilde, homonymous hemianopia, malevich, nanoblck-sqr #1, partially sighted, scotoma, The sound of silence
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Smellacious Gardens Oh You Blind
I refreshed my potpourri with lavender just yesterday, and was suddenly telewafted back to a garden for the blind, a little garden I once knew well. I think it was called a ‘Fragrant Garden for the Blind’ or something like … Continue reading
Posted in 101 experiments in seeing, Blindness and visual impairment, Old age, Sensory perception, Stroke survivor, The brain and visual perception
Tagged 101 Experiments in Seeing, Blind, Blind gardeners, BNIB, gardens for the blind, Scented garden, Thrift Charity, visual impairment
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How’s The Mincers?
Recently a friend asked, “How’s the mincers?” “The mincers are good”, I replied. “But there’s no improvement in the watch and chain.” It’s Cockney rhyming slang. Mincers=mince pies=eyes. Watch and chain=brain. I get the same question most days (although not … Continue reading
The Big Spoon, The Little Spoon and The Extra D: Experiment 14/101
Our retinas are flat and 2D, surfaces not solids. But human beings perceive the world vividly in 3D. How can it be? Where does the extra D come from? An excellent online article by David Hubel lists a whole range … Continue reading
