Some blind people are able to use the sound of echoes to "see" where things are and to navigate their environment. Now, a new study finds that these people may even be using visual parts of their brains to process the sounds.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/livescience/20110525/sc_livescience/blindpeopleseeshapesnavigateusingechoes

(Thanks to Melissa for sending)

Smooth Pursuit:

Abnormal Smooth Pursuit:

Reading Saccades:

"You'd be able to literally see all around you, including behind yourself, and zooming in at will, creating a "stereoscopic/binocular system, simultaneously providing 10x zoom to both eyes." And you would do this all hands-free, apparently by barking out or pre-programming a command (the solicitation leaves it up to a designer's imagination) to adjust focus."

http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2010/12/pentagon-wants-to-give-troops-terminator-vision/

For this homework I would like you to go to the urls below and participate in the cow eye dissection.

You can watch the dissection or you can do your own for more class credit if you like. If you film your own dissection and post it you will get more class credit.

Watch: http://www.exploratorium.edu/learning_studio/cow_eye/step01.html

You can do your own using any eyeball you want - fish, cow, etc...

Do: http://www.exploratorium.edu/learning_studio/cow_eye/doit.html

I would the like you to post a narrative type comment in the following format: 1) briefly discuss how your text book presents the relevant information about the eye (use facts and paraphrase the material), 2) do the web activity, 3) post in a narrative format your experience with the activity, and 4) Discuss how well the web site kept its facts and figures correct in relation to the material in your text book.

(Basically I want you to spend equal time in your text book and in the web. I would like you to use the terminology they are using in the book to teach you about the eye in your post. The sort of fact check the site to make sure it is consistent with your text - I am sure they are, but you will need to discuss this. This will take some time, so be prepared to spend it on this homework).

You can turn this in before Friday - if you are going to use a real eye I'll give you more time.

Let me know if you have any questions,

--Dr. M

Most people assume that what you see is pretty much what your eye sees and reports to your brain. In fact, your brain adds very substantially to the report it gets from your eye, so that a lot of what you see is actually "made up" by the brain (see Seeing more than your eye does).

http://serendip.brynmawr.edu/bb/latinhib.html

Most people (even many who work on the brain) assume that what you see is pretty much what your eye sees and reports to your brain. In fact, your brain adds very substantially to the report it gets from your eye, so that a lot of what you see is actually "made up" by the brain.

http://serendip.brynmawr.edu/bb/blindspot1.html

Also see : http://serendip.brynmawr.edu/bb/blindspot/

for an Applet that allows you to map you blind spot.