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Visual Optics - Introduction • In this course, the optical principals behind the workings of the eye and visual system will be explained. • Furthermore, descriptions of different devices used to measure the properties and functioning of the eye will be described. • Goals are a general understanding of how the visual system works and exposure to an array of different optical instrumentation. What is Vision? • Three pieces are needed for a visual system – Eye needs to form an “Image”. Image is loosely defined because it can be severely degraded and still provide information. – Image needs to be converted to a neural signal and sent to the brain. – Brain needs to interpret and process the image.Engineering Analysis • Optics – Aberrations and raytracing are used to determine the optical properties of the eye. Note that the eye is non-rotationally symmetric, so analysis is more complex than systems normally discussed in lens design. Fourier theory can also be used to determine retinal image with the point spread function and optical transfer function. • Neural – Sampling occurs by the photoreceptors (both spatial and quantification), noise reduction, edge filtering, color separation and image compression all occur in this stage. • Brain – Motion analysis, pattern recognition, object recognition and other processing occur in the brain. Physiology of the Eye Anterior Chamber – front portion of the eye Cornea – Clear membrane on the front of the eye. Aqueous – water- like fluid behind cornea. Iris – colored diaphragm that acts as the aperture stop of the eye. Sclera –white of the eye. Limbus – boundary between sclera and cornea. |