Experiment 1: Focus and Balance

In the eyes of most mammals, birds, reptiles, and most other terrestrial vertebrates (along with spiders and some insect larvae) the vitreous fluid has a higher refractive index than the air, relieving the lens of the function of reducing the focal length. This has freed it up for fine adjustments of focus, allowing a very high resolution to be obtained.

Something that particularly annoys me as I am getting older is my failing vision. When I strain to see or read something I give myself a headache. Out of focus vision is also a sign of drunkeness, once things get a bit blurry you should probably stop drinking. I am therefore interested in whether you could trick someone into thinking they've had one too many by fooling them into thinking that their vision is blurry/out of focus. If effective this method could perhaps be used to reduce binge drinking? Get drunk people to move on? Of course the more alcohol they have already embibed, the more receptive they will be to trickery of the mind.

As well as tricking the eye into thinking something isn't moving when it is, you can do the opposite using clever manipulation of the 2D image. I will now experiment with animation to create movement, ideally I would like to create a subtle moving image piece which plays on the physical stability of the viewer (equilibrioception).

I would like to project this onto a floor in an enclosed space to see whether it had an effect on a persons equilibrioception. My assumption is that if you were too look down at it then try to walk you would experience problems with your balance.