The Science behind Timeqube and How Vision Works

1bb5c4999bef7dbfaaf2e91d0f68cc79?s=96&d=mm&r=g
Written by Andy

You might think a glowing cube is a new, fancy and cool way to show time. It surely is, but the strength of Timeqube lies much deeper and is rooted in how our vision works.

Long Story Short

We humans see objects differently depending where they appear in the visual field. In the center of your eyesight objects look sharp and clear. The more they move outwards from the center, the more blurred they appear.

We generally observe less details to the objects that appear outside of the focal area. But the parafoveal and peripheral vision as they are called play a very important role in defining the context of the scene we are observing.  They allow brain to process information in a different, more holistic way while our central, so called foveal vision provides focus, both visual and cognitive.

As multiple research has found, simple objects in the peripheral field can stimulate sub-conscious awareness. That is exactly why the Timeqube in the corner of your meeting table (parafoveal / peripheral field) will keep you aware of time while you can fully focus on the meeting and its participants (foveal vision, conscious focus). This is why Timeqube is 100% non-distractive.

Leonardo da Vinci (1452–1519) is believed to be the first to recognize the special optical qualities of the eye. He wrote “The function of the human eye … was described by a large number of authors in a certain way. But I found it to be completely different.” His main experimental finding was that there is only a distinct and clear vision at the line of sight—the optical line that ends at the fovea. Although he did not use these words literally he actually is the father of the modern distinction between foveal and peripheral vision.

banerek timeqube min

More Interesting Terms and Definitions

Foveal vision – this region correspends to maintaining of the visual gaze on a single location. An animal can exhibit visual fixation if they possess a fovea in the anatomy of their eye. The fovea is typically located at the center of the retina and is the point of clearest vision.

Parafoveal vision –  this region contains a mixture of cones and rods and does not provide as high a resolution as does the fovea. Although rods do not permit color vision, they respond to much lower illuminance. Nighttime vision is performed primarily with the rods.

Peripheral vision, or indirect vision, is vision as it occurs outside the point of fixation, i.e. away from the center of gaze. The vast majority of the area in the visual field is included in the notion of peripheral vision

Research Papers