Our eyes have evolved for X-Ray vision
Washington, August 29 : A scientists at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute says that
human eyes have evolved for X-Ray vision, the ability to see through things.
Mark Changizi, assistant professor of cognitive science, says that eyes facing the same
direction maximise the ability of humans and some other animals to see in leafy
environments like forests.
He corroborates his proposition with the fact that a person can see through a pen to
the world behind it with both eyes open, though not with one eye closed.
Similarly, a person can see almost everything beyond his/her fingers when they are
placed in random directions, and the subjects both eyes are open.
"Our binocular region is a kind of 'spotlight' shining through the clutter, allowing us
to visually sweep out a cluttered region to recognize the objects beyond it," says
Changizi, who is principal investigator on the project.
"As long as the separation between our eyes is wider than the width of the objects
causing clutter - as is the case with our fingers, or would be the case with the leaves in
the forest - then we can tend to see through it," he adds.
Changizi, however, feels that eyes located on either side of the head-as in fish,
insects, reptiles, birds, rabbits, and horses-might be more beneficial for humans these
days because the sideways-facing eyes could allow them to see in front of and behind
themselves.
"In today's world, humans have more in common visually with tiny mice in a forest than
with a large animal in the jungle. We aren't faced with a great deal of small clutter, and
the things that do clutter our visual field - cars and skyscrapers - are much wider than
the separation between our eyes, so we can't use our X-ray power to see through them," he
says.
"If we froze ourselves today and woke up a million years from now, it's possible that
it might be difficult for us to look the new human population in the eyes, because by then
they might be facing sideways," he adds.
--ANI
