An interactive museum exhibition piece about the Visual Cortex designed, programmed and fabricated by myself and
Tom Arthur: http://itp.howtomworks.com/
Xuedi Chen: http://xc-xd.com/
Brett Peterson: http://brettjpeterson.com/
Special Thanks to NYU Center for Neural Sciences- Dr. Anthony Movshon, Dr. Jeremy Freeman & Corey Zimeba B.S.
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Vision 101: How Do Your Eyes and Brain Connect?
The lens of your eye focuses an image on your retina. Your retina translates light into electrical signals.
The LGN (lateral geniculate nucleus) relays these signals to your visual cortex. Your visual cortex processes these signals.
Visual Cortex: The Processing Engine:
Like a digital camera, your eyes send light to your brain in the form of electrical pulses. Signals are sent to cells in the visual cortex for sensing specific things like color, shapes, motion or depth. Your brain puts these messages together to interpret the image, pixel by pixel. Sight is a complex sense, and we don’t yet know all the details of how the visual cortex works. Neuroscientists at NYU and around the world continue to research how the parts connect and function together to allow us to see.
Research Conducted at NYU: V2 and Textures:
Research in the Visual Neuroscience Lab at NYU aims to understand how visual information is represented in the early stages of visual cortex and how these representations work together to support visual perception.
COLOR
Area: V4
Can you see the difference between a green and a red traffic signal?
Seeing the full spectrum of colors relies on the brain’s ability to parse lightwave frequencies.
MOTION
Area: MT/V5
Can you determine how quickly a car is approaching an intersection?
Seeing movement depends on the brain’s ability to determine changes in objects in space over time.
FACES
Area: FFA
Can you tell a face from a tree?
Seeing distinct facial features depends on the brain’s ability to differentiate facial forms from other forms.
TEXTURE
Area: V2
Can you see differences in the surfaces of bricks and glass?
Seeing the difference in specific materiality depends on the brain's ability to notice the relationships between details.
DEPTH
Area: V2
Can you tell if something is far away or just really small?
Seeing three-dimensional space depends on the brain’s ability to integrate signals from both eyes allowing for binocular vision.
ORIENTATION
Area: V1
Can you tell if something perpendicular to you?
Seeing angles depends on the brain’s ability to determine spatial relationships.