Do you struggle to find a face in a café, but know someone who could spot a needle in a haystack?
It turns out there might a reason for that.
Researchers at the University of California, Berkeley, have discovered the ability to pinpoint and recognise the exact size and location of an object varies from person to person.
The study included an experiment which asked participants to view a series of arcs of varying lengths.
They found participants perceived the same arc in different ways, some finding it bigger at locations and others findings it smaller at different points.
“We assume our perception is a perfect reflection of the physical world around us, but this study shows that each of us has a unique visual fingerprint,” says the study’s lead author Zixuan Wang.
The findings could have big ramifications for a field like medicine which relies heavily on how people see.
The researchers say more work is needed however to work out why this is the case, but say what is important is how we adapt to ‘visual deficiencies’ and make up for our mistakes.
It makes sense – and might explain why we all have trouble finding our keys sometimes!
