Visualization definition

Visualization is the collection of biological processes that transform light waves into eyesight. Visualization isn’t something that only people do. Some of the simplest animals, like the larvae of sponges and jellyfish, have light-sensitive cells that help them respond to their environment. More complex animals like birds and mammals have sophisticated vision systems that help them hunt, feed, find mates and flee from predators. 

For this article, we’ll stick to human visualization, which has four key components:

• Visible light 

• Optical mechanisms in the eye 

• Light-sensitive nerves  

• Visual centers in the brain  

Let’s take a quick look at how these factors come together to create visualization. 

Visible light: waves of radiation that produce photons

When you hear the word radiation, you might think of a cancer treatment or the damage from an atomic blast. But radiation also comes from electromagnetic sources like the sun and the stars.  

Electromagnetic radiation travels in waves that rise and fall like the movement of water in the ocean. The wavelength measures the wave’s size. The electromagnetic spectrum is every known wavelength, from smallest to largest. 

The human vision system cannot process the entire electromagnetic spectrum. We sense only a slice of it called visible light. 

The light we see radiates from the sun, lightbulbs and other light sources in the form of microscopic particles called photons. When photons touch light-sensitive cells in the eyeball, they set off a chain reaction in the brain that leads to visualization. 

Before we talk about the nerves and the brain, however, we have to talk about the optic mechanisms in the eyes that help send photons where they need to go to produce eyesight. 

READ NEXT: Alice in Wonderland syndrome