Defects of vision and ways to correct them

1. As light rays from an object enter the eye, they are refracted by cornea, lens and the humours.
2. For a person with normal vision, the image is focused exactly on the retina. Everything looks
sharp and clear.
3. A person with defects of vision cannot do so because his eyes cannot focus light properly.
Therefore the person cannot see clearly.
4. The 2 most common defects of vision are short-sightedness and long sightedness.
5. Other common defects of vision are astigmatism, colour-blindness and presbyopia.
6. Astigmatism is either caused by the irregular surface of the cornea or lens, or both.
(a) A person with minor to moderate astigmatism sees some parts of an object more clearly
than other parts. A person with severe astigmatism may see the world as a series of
distorted images.
(b) This defect can be overcome by either wearing glasses with cylindrical lenses, wearing
special contact lenses or surgery.
7. Colour-bindness
(a) Colour-blindness people cannot see some of all the colours. Most often, they cannot
differentiate between red and green colour.
(b) This defect is due to reduced number of cone cells on the retina or defects in them.
(c) It is hereditary defect. So, it cannot be corrected.

Limitations of sight

1. Our sense of sight has limitations, for example:

(a) We cannot see very tiny objects such as microorganisms and atoms with the naked eyes.
(b) We cannot see very distant objects such as the stars and the planets.
(c) We cannot see the bones and organs inside our body. This is because we cannot see
through opaque objects.
2. Other limitations of sight include optical illusions and the presence of blind spots in our eyes.
3. Optical illusion
(a) Sometimes what we see is different from the reality.
(b) What we see depends not only on our eyes but also our brain.
(c) The image formed in the eye is accurate but the brain sometimes cannot interpret
accurately. This gives rise to optical illusions.
 Short-sightedness (myopia) Long-sightedness (hypermetropia)
Similarity
Both are caused by the condition of the lens and the eyeball

Differences
1) sees near objects clearly Condition 1) Sees distant object clearly
2) Distant objects are blurred of vision 2) Near objects are blurred

1) the lens is too thick Causes 1) The lens is too thin

2) The eyeball too long 2) The eyeball is too short

Light form a distant object is Focus Light from a near object is focused
focused infront of the retina behind the retina

It is corrected by wearing glasses with Correction It is corrected by wearing glasses with

concave lenses. The lenses diverge convex lenses. The lenses converge
light rays before they enter the eye light rays before they enter the eye.

4. Blindspot

(a) Hold this book at arms length. Close your right eye and look at the dot with your left eye.
(b) Slowly bring the book towards your face. At certain point, your left eye will not be able to see
the cross.
(c) This occurs because the image of the cross falls onto the blind spot of your left eye.
(d) The blind spot does not have any photoreceptors. Therefore, the eye cannot detect the image of
the cross that falls on this spot.
(e) Normally we do not notice the presence of the blind spots in our eye. This is because the same
images will not fall on the same time. We can only detect the blind spot in each eye one eye at a
time.
5. Stereoscopic vision
(a) We have 2 eyes. The 2 eyes can focus on the same object. Each eye receives a slightly
different image from the other. The brain combines these 2 images together and enabe us
 to see one 3-dimensional image. This way of seeing is called stereoscopic vision or binocular
vision.
(b) Stereoscopic vision gives a better perception of size, depth, and distance of an object from
us.
(c) Animals with stereoscopic vision have both eyes at the front of the head.
(d) Stereoscopic vision enables predators such as cats and eagles to judge distance accurately
to capture their prey.
(e) Other animals have one eye at each side of their head. Each eye can see different objects at
the same time. This way of seeing is called monocular vision.
(f) Preys such as rabbits, chickens, fish and deer have monocular vision.
(g) Monocular vision enables animals to detect their enemies from a wide range of directions.
This is because monocular vision has a wide field of vision.

Stereoscopic Vision Monocular Vision

1) Both eyes at the front of the head
2) Visual fields of the eyes overlap a great deal
in the centre. This overlapping area is called
the field of stereoscopic vision.
3) It gives a smaller field of vision
4) It gives a 3-Dimensional view of an object.
This enables one to judge distance accurately.
5) Humans and most predators have
stereoscopic vision
1) One eye at each side of the head
2) Visual field of the eyes do not overlap or
overlap only a little.
3) It gives a wider field of vision, sometimes
reaching 360 in certain animals.
4) It does not give 3-Dimensional view of an
object.
Therefore, judgement of distance is not
accurate.
5) Most prey have monocular vision.