Perception, Illusions & Art: The Eye & Visual Illusions

The Eye: Our Window to Visual Perception

Learning Objectives

• Understand how the eye has evolved.
• Understand how vision has been understood historically.
• Identify the key structures of the eye, including the cornea, iris, lens, retina, and extraocular muscles.
• Define blind spots.
• Describe the visual pathways and the key areas of the brain involved in vision.

The Eye & Visual Pathways

• The eye and visual pathways in the brain are parts of our sensory system underlying visual perception.
• Understanding their structure and function is essential to appreciate how we see.
• Concepts will be built upon in later lectures, such as:
  • Looking at Art: the moving eye
  • Art in Focus
  • The (Abnormal) Artist’s Eye (and Brain)
• Briefly considering the eye's development over time and how ideas about vision have changed is useful.

History of Our Understanding of Vision

• Ancient Greeks had two theories of vision:
  1. Euclid (~300 BCE) in "Optics": The lens emitted radiation that bounced off objects and returned to the lens, leading to vision. This is known as the emission theory or extramission theory.
     • This idea may seem strange, but bats