Through the inverting glass firstperson observat

Authors: Jan Degenaar

Publish Date: 2013/03/17

Volume: 13, Issue: 2, Pages: 373-393

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Abstract

Experience with inverting glasses reveals key factors of spatial vision Interpretations of the literature based on the metaphor of a “visual image” have raised the question whether visual experience with inverting glasses remains inverted or whether it may turn back to normal after adaptation to the glasses Here I report on my experience with left/right inverting glasses and argue that a more finegrained sensorimotor analysis can resolve the issue Crucially inverting glasses introduce a conflict at the very heart of spatial vision At first the experience of visual direction grounded in head movements differs from visual experience grounded in eye movements During adaptation this difference disappears and one may learn to see without conflict where objects are located this took me 123 h of practice The momentary experience became once again integrated within the larger flow of visual exploration involving head movements a change of experience that was abrupt and comparable to a Gestalt switch The resulting experience remains different from normal vision and I argue that this difference can be understood in sensorimotor terms I describe how adaptation to inverting glasses is further reflected in mental imagery supporting the idea that imagery is grounded in sensorimotor engagement with the environment as wellFor very useful comments on earlier versions of this text I would especially like to thank Jeanne Peijnenburg Fred Keijzer Erik Myin members of the Groningen Graduate School of Philosophy and three anonymous reviewers This study has been funded by the Faculty of Philosophy of the University of Groningen and it is part of the project “Visual Imagery as Perceptual Activity” funded by the Research Council of the University of Antwerp

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