So I was thinking about dragon vision, and how it would work scientifically. I'm sure you've all seen videos of chicken heads being fixed at a certain spot while their bodies are being moved, right? Well that is a feature that happens in most birds, to keep their vision stable while they flight and their bodies are dynamic. (Even though chickens don't fly lol.) This sense is also the reason behind a bird's "bobbing head walk", their heads remain in the same spot in space for as long as possible before being forced to swing forward by the movement of their bodies. I think dragon's heads would bob in similar ways for the same reasons, they need to focus on specific targets while flying and keep their head's stable.
As for color, and what their actual vision looks like, I think they would see more like a lizard than an eagle's.
[img]http://fc02.deviantart.net/fs71/i/2012/065/4/2/predator_infrared_vision_with_the_bio_mask_on_by_icyone-d4rz2j7.jpg[/img]
[img]http://julesnoise.files.wordpress.com/2012/07/bedbug-thermal-vision4.jpg[/img]
Here are some examples of "infrared vision", although this coloring is not true infrared as you would see in military goggles. I think warm colors would indicate life, with white being the center of the "life source", while blues are inanimate objects. They would have the clarity and resolution of the first image (which means being able to tell apart subtle differences in heat signatures), to discern distances and details, but the second image shows how the vision would be helpful in long distances (which would mean they would be able to pick up on the tiniest heat signatures). They would be able to see a living thing as easily and precisely as we see stars in the night sky. Now, if their vision is heat-based, this poses a problem. Every time your dragon breaths fire, it would temporarily go blind from the mass of heat. I believe I have found a way out of this though. If a dragon has a very narrow heat-sensitivity range, say 20F to 120F, it could ignore extremes such as the sun, fire, ice, and general hot/cold temperatures. Such a narrow range would also give it an extreme sensitivity, which would allow it to detect subtle differences (the resolution) and small heat signatures (the distance).
So I was thinking about dragon vision, and how it would work scientifically. I'm sure you've all seen videos of chicken heads being fixed at a certain spot while their bodies are being moved, right? Well that is a feature that happens in most birds, to keep their vision stable while they flight and their bodies are dynamic. (Even though chickens don't fly lol.) This sense is also the reason behind a bird's "bobbing head walk", their heads remain in the same spot in space for as long as possible before being forced to swing forward by the movement of their bodies. I think dragon's heads would bob in similar ways for the same reasons, they need to focus on specific targets while flying and keep their head's stable.
As for color, and what their actual vision looks like, I think they would see more like a lizard than an eagle's.
Here are some examples of "infrared vision", although this coloring is not true infrared as you would see in military goggles. I think warm colors would indicate life, with white being the center of the "life source", while blues are inanimate objects. They would have the clarity and resolution of the first image (which means being able to tell apart subtle differences in heat signatures), to discern distances and details, but the second image shows how the vision would be helpful in long distances (which would mean they would be able to pick up on the tiniest heat signatures). They would be able to see a living thing as easily and precisely as we see stars in the night sky. Now, if their vision is heat-based, this poses a problem. Every time your dragon breaths fire, it would temporarily go blind from the mass of heat. I believe I have found a way out of this though. If a dragon has a very narrow heat-sensitivity range, say 20F to 120F, it could ignore extremes such as the sun, fire, ice, and general hot/cold temperatures. Such a narrow range would also give it an extreme sensitivity, which would allow it to detect subtle differences (the resolution) and small heat signatures (the distance).
Well the only thing we know is how mirrors see, everything is kinda up in the air.
But I personally think guardians do not have good sight, but excellent smell, since they origin from water flight.
Well the only thing we know is how mirrors see, everything is kinda up in the air.
But I personally think guardians do not have good sight, but excellent smell, since they origin from water flight.
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Takora
Or maybe guardians would be very sensitive to vibrations in the water/air. They are big creatures, so they shouldn't have much trouble picking them up, even over longer distances.
Well, no animals truly have 'heat vision'. They have censors which detect heat, and work alongside the eyes - the two are closely linked, but they are separate.
Also, it's snakes that can 'see' heat. They have pits on their heads that allow them to detect infrared radiation.
But snakes actually have very good 'normal' eyesight alongside that (or at least those that live above ground). They can't see colour, but have very sharp vision even in the dark.
Since the two senses are closely linked in the brain, a snake probably perceives heat in the same way it does sight. I don't think anyone really knows what that means they see, but I imagine it would be similar to the pictures above but a lot clearer.
...So maybe that's how mirrors see.
Spirals probably have vision similar to a cats' but sharper. Cat's can see the full range of colours we can, but their sight is very fuzzy and they can't see very far at all. Considering the erratic way Spirals move, I imagine they'd have to have sharper eyesight just to keep from colliding with everything - but they still probably have a proportionally large amount of rods in their eyes, which allow for low-light vision.
It doesn't say anything about the other dragons' eyesight, but they must see in colour or they wouldn't exist in such a variety of it. They also have to have quite detailed vision to be able to craft such intricate things (the steampunk apparel, for example). I'd say for the most part their eyes are probably quite similar to ours.
...
Okay I just wrote a whole lot. It's too early for this lol. xP
If I got anything wrong just ignore me my education comes from random google searches and vague curiosity
Well, no animals truly have 'heat vision'. They have censors which detect heat, and work alongside the eyes - the two are closely linked, but they are separate.
Also, it's snakes that can 'see' heat. They have pits on their heads that allow them to detect infrared radiation.
But snakes actually have very good 'normal' eyesight alongside that (or at least those that live above ground). They can't see colour, but have very sharp vision even in the dark.
Since the two senses are closely linked in the brain, a snake probably perceives heat in the same way it does sight. I don't think anyone really knows what that means they see, but I imagine it would be similar to the pictures above but a lot clearer.
...So maybe that's how mirrors see.
Spirals probably have vision similar to a cats' but sharper. Cat's can see the full range of colours we can, but their sight is very fuzzy and they can't see very far at all. Considering the erratic way Spirals move, I imagine they'd have to have sharper eyesight just to keep from colliding with everything - but they still probably have a proportionally large amount of rods in their eyes, which allow for low-light vision.
It doesn't say anything about the other dragons' eyesight, but they must see in colour or they wouldn't exist in such a variety of it. They also have to have quite detailed vision to be able to craft such intricate things (the steampunk apparel, for example). I'd say for the most part their eyes are probably quite similar to ours.
...
Okay I just wrote a whole lot. It's too early for this lol. xP
If I got anything wrong just ignore me my education comes from random google searches and vague curiosity
@
Nihilo
Well interestingly enough, infrared is detected exactly the same way visual light is detected, because it's the same thing, just at a different wavelength. That's why some animals can see infrared, while others can see ultraviolet, their cones are set to different frequencies of light. It's kind of cool, because as you know infrared and ultraviolet, as well as the more extreme micro and gamma rays, are associated with heat. This means that visual light also has a heat associated with it, we just can't detect it because the difference in wavelength from, say, red to blue, is extremely small compared to the difference in wavelength from infrared to red. This also means that when heavy radiation melts objects, essentially the "light" is so strong that the light melts the objects. Perhaps there are aliens that use radio or gamma rays as their primary source of light, they would likely see in color too because color is just a marker made by the brain to distinguish between different frequencies. !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! OH SNAP!!!!
It would be intriguing if all dragons did see heat/infrared instead of our visual light, but they gave the different wavelengths color markers, so from their point of view it looks very similar to how we see. It would look like the pictures above, but instead of solely red and blue, it had all the colors of our visual spectrum.
Related to that point, Richard Dawkins once said that he believed bats heard in color, simply using color to mark different sound frequencies the way we would mark different light frequencies. I think this is unlikely though, because bats see with visual light as well, and I think this would be far too much processing power for them to handle.
Also, I know it's snakes that see in infrared, I was being lazy. I don't know how the detection works, however. They have pits under their eyes, so they don't detect infrared with their cones like a bee does.
@
Nihilo
Well interestingly enough, infrared is detected exactly the same way visual light is detected, because it's the same thing, just at a different wavelength. That's why some animals can see infrared, while others can see ultraviolet, their cones are set to different frequencies of light. It's kind of cool, because as you know infrared and ultraviolet, as well as the more extreme micro and gamma rays, are associated with heat. This means that visual light also has a heat associated with it, we just can't detect it because the difference in wavelength from, say, red to blue, is extremely small compared to the difference in wavelength from infrared to red. This also means that when heavy radiation melts objects, essentially the "light" is so strong that the light melts the objects. Perhaps there are aliens that use radio or gamma rays as their primary source of light, they would likely see in color too because color is just a marker made by the brain to distinguish between different frequencies. !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! OH SNAP!!!!
It would be intriguing if all dragons did see heat/infrared instead of our visual light, but they gave the different wavelengths color markers, so from their point of view it looks very similar to how we see. It would look like the pictures above, but instead of solely red and blue, it had all the colors of our visual spectrum.
Related to that point, Richard Dawkins once said that he believed bats heard in color, simply using color to mark different sound frequencies the way we would mark different light frequencies. I think this is unlikely though, because bats see with visual light as well, and I think this would be far too much processing power for them to handle.
Also, I know it's snakes that see in infrared, I was being lazy. I don't know how the detection works, however. They have pits under their eyes, so they don't detect infrared with their cones like a bee does.
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safeleo well, I can't really keep up the whole derg eyesight debate because I've pretty much reached the end of my eye knowledge xP
Bored teenager googling insight only goes so far!
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safeleo well, I can't really keep up the whole derg eyesight debate because I've pretty much reached the end of my eye knowledge xP
Bored teenager googling insight only goes so far!
I headcannon that Nature dragons can "see" life. For example the roots of a tree, no matter how deep, or even individual bugs. They are basically the wildlife protector's animal detector. This is also how Nature dragons effectively track other dragons damaging the Labyrinth, even though the whole land is an inpenetrable mass of plants normal vision can't see much through.
I headcannon that Nature dragons can "see" life. For example the roots of a tree, no matter how deep, or even individual bugs. They are basically the wildlife protector's animal detector. This is also how Nature dragons effectively track other dragons damaging the Labyrinth, even though the whole land is an inpenetrable mass of plants normal vision can't see much through.
