A new study from researchers at UCL (University College London), Paris Descartes University and Dartmouth College has found the ability to distinguish objects in peripheral vision varies significantly between individuals.
The research reportedly found on average, humans are worse at spotting objects in crowded environments when they are above or below eye level. However, the extent to which that occurs varies between individuals.
Researchers reportedly give 12 volunteers a series of perception tests over several years. They found participants' ability to successfully identify a central point in the center of the screen in a scene that was visually "cluttered" varied significantly from person to person. On average, most participants were reportedly weakest with their upper peripheral vision, followed by the lower peripheral vision. And here was no significant difference between left and right on average.
According to researchers, their findings help them better understand the mechanisms that cause visual crowding and where these occur in the visual system, and they hope this will help develop improved treatment strategies for a wide range of conditions.
The study was recently published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
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Source: UCL (University College London)