We are all used to seeing the 3D world that we live in reduced to 2D, whether in art, photography, or film.
But, when we close our eyes, how do we visualise things that we have already seen?
A new study led by the Universities of Plymouth and Essex investigated this question, discovering that many adults are resistant to imagining their own vision as if it were a flat image - seeing it in its fully processed, knowledge-laden form instead.
The results came as the researchers showed 58 adults two lines on a wall, both of which were the same length but one was closer to the participant and hence appeared visually longer.
Two lines on a wall - used to test whether adults think in 2D or 3D. Study led by Dr Steven Samuel.
The full paper, entitled 'Seeing' proximal representations: Testing attitudes to the relationship between vision and images, is available to view now in the journal PLOS One (doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0256658).
