Why we can't see things that are right in front of us!

Sometimes, it's impossible to see obvious changes. Before you disagree with that, watch this video.

So, did you count all of the basketball passes? More importantly, did you see the gorilla?

I didn't see it. It made me think about what other things I just don't see.

Recently, scientists used computer-based models to figure out our visual intelligence and what visual cues help us spot the changes.

Sure, we've all heard of color blindness and face blindness. Have you heard of "change blindness"? Change blindness is the failure to detect large changes in your environment.

Researchers at Queen Mary University of London wanted to use a computer to help them measure their subjects' visual intelligence. The experiment basically involved showing people some pictures that were either altered by color or by removing objects. The computer had full control over how the pictures changed to ensure there was no human influence.

In a statement:

"This is one of the first applications of computer intelligence to help study human visual intelligence, " said author Peter McOwan, professor at Queen Mary, University of London. "The biologically inspired mathematics we have developed and tested can have future uses in letting computer vision systems such as robots detect interesting elements in their visual environment."

We assume that we can easily see color changes. But researchers found the opposite to be true — the subjects identified changes more easily when objects were removed or added to the scene instead of when color changes were made.

In the future, city planners might want to consider this when designing street signs, security, and emergency services. And marketing folks could take advantage of this.

It's not always about wanting to see everything, especially in the digital world. Here, you just want to block some images out. The good news is that an algorithm is being developed in hopes that it can one day block penises from appearing in Chatroulette.

via Euekalert and Pop Sci

This post was originally published on Smartplanet.com