Simple Depth Perception Experiment

Try this simple experiment to see the difference using two eyes makes when judging the distance of an object.

We have two eyes which make two slightly different images. When the brain processes the images it helps us judge the distances between objects we see and ourselves. This is called depth perception.

You can do a really easy test to see how your perception is different when you only use one eye.

Hit Or Miss

You will need:

• A pen with a lid

What to do:

• Close one eye.

• Put the pen in one hand and the lid in the other and put your arms far apart.

• Keeping your one eye closed, try to put the lid on the pen.

• Try this five times. How many times did you get the lid on the pen?

• Now try it five times with both eyes open. How many times did you get the lid on the pen?

If you missed putting the lid on the pen, the pen was probably either too close to you or too far away from you. This is because we use depth perception to judge what is close or far away and we need both eyes for depth perception.

Did you enjoy this test? This is one of the fun activities included in our Sense of Sight resource