Behind the eyeball In daily life humans move their eyes naturally and unconsciously to get visual information, though the eye movements are hardly noticed. Saccades are involuntary eye movements (gaze jumps) and rank amongst the fastest human movements.

The Saccade-based Display uses the eye movements to present visual images. When light sources (LEDs) are fixed on a vertical line, and the flashing pattern is changed quickly during a horizontal saccade eye movement, a twodimensional image can be perceived due to the afterimage expanded on the retina.
The Saccade-based Display can show two-dimensional visual images of a ghostly nature in midair, without any projection screen, only by using a single line of light source. In addition, recent technological progress enables us to show even life-size photographic images such as humans and landscapes. Each viewer will see different images, because the shape of the image is determined by the speed and path of the eye movement.
In other words, seeing images with this display means seeing the trail of your own eye movements.

credits: Junji Watanabe (PRESTO researcher at the Japan Science & Technology Agency, Concept, www.junji.org/saccade)
Tetsutoshi Tabata (Media Drive Unit “cell”, Graphic Design)
Hideyuki Ando (Associate Professor in Osaka University, Device Design)
Technically cooperated with NTT Communication Science Laboratories.