WYSIWYG…What you see is what you get. That’s what the world of technology moves towards today. But is what you see really what it is? Optical illusions are well known for their ability to deceive humans. There are a lot of weird illusions available around the internet. One among them is Motion Induced Blindness.
It so happens that the human eye cannot perceive slower changes in motion if it is acquainted to a particular speed. There have been studies indicating that when driving at high speeds, the driver cannot see slow moving objects. The following image is a simulation of the illusion. If you concentrate on the center dot, the other three dots disappear. The order and time of disappearance varies with person and also the size of the dots.
Then, there are the mirages in deserts. A false illusion of seeing water. Though that has been scientificially proven to be reflection of light through water vapour, the question still remains…Is what we see the reality? To view it in a methodical way, the human eye is like a camera. It captures the scene infront of it to focus a two dimensional picture on the retina. It’s the visual perception that makes the scene alive. Our brain analyzes this two dimensional picture as if it were three dimensional. It perceives the depth of the image making it look three dimensional. And this perception is more so learnt by the brain than inherited. If you see a totally unfamiliar object from a large distance distance, it takes some time to discern it. And in that time you focus on the object to discern it. Actually that’s the perception department of your brain at work. By focussing on the object, your brain tries to learn its texture, its depth, its shape and its perceived motion. This process is actually repetative. Your brain teaches itself how to perceive a certain object in future by trying to discern it in the present. To correct the perception, we tend to use our other senses. But what happens when we cant use other senses, how far can we trust our visual perception to correctly interpret the scene? And then again, is what we can only see a reality??
Just the other day, while walking down the streets in the evening, I saw someone standing at the window of the house. At first I neglected it thinking just some one peeping out. But then as I passed the house, something did not seem right. So I simply took another look. Its then that I realised some one had kept a life size poster of a guy in the window. And from a distance, it felt as if someone was standing there peeping outside. So, I had to go closer and take another glance to know the reality.
To sum it all, what you see is not always what you get. Its your brain perceiving the picture your eye sends it. And not always is it very quick and not always it is correct. And then the question remains unanswered….Is what wecan only see a reality? Or is it all just perception!?
An Engineer's Path... 