The First Signs of Vision

Abstract

There has been a lot of research on the evolution of eyes through the lens of biology; however, there have been a distinct lack of research in simulating what animals saw as their eyes evolved. This project aims to create interactive simulations of the evolution of animal visions from the Cambrian Explosion to present day through the use of extended reality (XR) environments. Our goal is to communicate and educate about the evolutionary timescale to help our audience understand 1) the history of vision and intelligence and 2) how vision came to be and why it is the way it is. In addition, we want to bridge the gap between technology and vision research to help people better understand and visualize this evolutionary process. We have also collaborated with the Museum of Science and the MIT Museum to display this work in events at their venues.