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Seeing Things While Wearing Eyeglasses

MorningAngel

MorningAngel

Justified & Ancient
Joined
May 14, 2015
Messages
3,214
I was at work yesterday and saw a square shape near to the floor move. Now I did think this might just have been a reflection in the back of my glasses (I however couldn't make it happen again). It got me thinking how many times have glasses reflections been interpreted into something spooky? Also on the other hand how does not having your glasses on work with spooky things, when things are blurry?
 
I've had that myself, if I sit facing away from the window and a bird/bee/butterfly goes past. It can make you start that's for sure. If I sit in the living room, the 'flicker' can appear in my glasses and in the mirror opposite at the same time, which has made me jump.

Without glasses, with foggy vision, I'd speculate that it's a bit like being out in twilight. With less information to go on the brain relies a lot more on 'top-down' processing so it will attempt to interpret what you are looking at in the context of where it thinks it is (e.g a haunted house).

If you're in a haunted house without your glasses, I'd suggest you're more likely to see a ghost, but no more likely to encounter one!
 
In my experience the most startling transient eyeglass effects are reflections from the back side (eye side; inside) of the lenses. Because the source is (by definition) beside or behind you, it can only be glimpsed in peripheral vision if at all. The usual result is either an ephemeral flash, glare, indistinct blob, or translucent image superimposed on your visual field looking forward or a hint of the same teasing you from the extreme periphery.

Because I was severely myopic without correction until the age of 9, and have worn strong lenses since (56 years and counting), my history of clear vision completely aligns with my history of having optical apparatus riding on my face. The point is that I had to recognize and accommodate such apparatus effects from the beginning (of my ability to see much at all), so they're intrinsic features of vision for me. I don't usually react to these things unless there's a secondary image / input in my main visual field confirming something is 'out there' rather than 'in / off my lenses' (cf. Coal's example of the mirror). Such filtering is second nature, because it's all I've ever known.

Decades ago my lenses were quite thick glass. The thicker glass lenses, with their more radical surface curvature, were subject to refractive as well as reflective distortions / effects. I would sometimes glimpse bright spots or apparent shadow-blobs at the periphery which were 'arriving' through the glass rather than reflecting off its surface. On rare occasions under specific conditions (dim overall lighting; bright pinpoint light source) I would get transient rainbow auras or waves from the lenses' edges acting as prisms.

The more modern plastic lenses are thinner, less glossily polished, and less radically curved, so I'd have to say I get fewer such effects nowadays than I did back when.

On the other hand, the plastic / polycarbonate lenses are more subject to surface micro-scratching than glass. I've experienced sparkles, glares, and even prismatic rainbow effects from such scratches. These effects originate 'out front' and come through the lenses.
 
EnolaGaia said:
In my experience the most startling transient eyeglass effects are reflections from the back side (eye side; inside) of the lenses. Because the source is (by definition) beside or behind you, it can only be glimpsed in peripheral vision if at all. The usual result is either an ephemeral flash, glare, indistinct blob, or translucent image superimposed on your visual field looking forward or a hint of the same teasing you from the extreme periphery.

Because I was severely myopic without correction until the age of 9, and have worn strong lenses since (56 years and counting), my history of clear vision completely aligns with my history of having optical apparatus riding on my face. The point is that I had to recognize and accommodate such apparatus effects from the beginning (of my ability to see much at all), so they're intrinsic features of vision for me. I don't usually react to these things unless there's a secondary image / input in my main visual field confirming something is 'out there' rather than 'in / off my lenses' (cf. Coal's example of the mirror). Such filtering is second nature, because it's all I've ever known.

Decades ago my lenses were quite thick glass. The thicker glass lenses, with their more radical surface curvature, were subject to refractive as well as reflective distortions / effects. I would sometimes glimpse bright spots or apparent shadow-blobs at the periphery which were 'arriving' through the glass rather than reflecting off its surface. On rare occasions under specific conditions (dim overall lighting; bright pinpoint light source) I would get transient rainbow auras or waves from the lenses' edges acting as prisms.

The more modern plastic lenses are thinner, less glossily polished, and less radically curved, so I'd have to say I get fewer such effects nowadays than I did back when.

On the other hand, the plastic / polycarbonate lenses are more subject to surface micro-scratching than glass. I've experienced sparkles, glares, and even prismatic rainbow effects from such scratches. These effects originate 'out front' and come through the lenses.
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My last set of glasses were awful there was a permanent prism effect at the edge of them.

It was the fact that what I saw was square shaped and light that I thought it could be a reflection of the over head strip light. Although as I type I'm thinking a sprip light is narrower. Also the lens more likely for the reflection is my bad eye so I think it wouldn't have been so clear. It's strange.

When I was young I remember the light just striking just right so I could see my eyelashes reflected. Has anyone else had this?
 
MorningAngel said:
... When I was young I remember the light just striking just right so I could see my eyelashes reflected. Has anyone else had this?
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Yep ... I've even experienced peculiar lighting / orientation conditions under which I was staring into my own eyes, translucent and superimposed onto the scenery out front.

I often catch the reflection of overhead lamps off the back (eye) side of my lenses. Depending on the angles involved and the curvature of your lens, it can emulate a distorting fun-house mirror that changes the appearance of the object reflected. For example, the square overhead lamp fixture in one of my rooms always appears stretched and trapezoidal when I look downward and see it reflecting off the inside of a lens.
 
Yes also, to strange internal reflections. And possibly eyelashes, if the lighting's just right.

Glasses....the double-glazing of the soul.

I hate the way glasses move, when you're doing sports of any sort, and also fall off if you're at any sort of angle. And I hate being misted-up when I go indoors during winter-time. But I won't be undergoing laser eye surgery any time soon ever, and contact lenses are the work of the devil. Well, an opthalmological devil, anyway.

@MorningAngel I believe your basic theory is fairly-logical. And is an interesting premise that I'm going to chew around further. But: with the important caveat that us specky four-eyed geeks are usually able to instinctively-compensate for strange lens phenomena.
 
Ermintrude said:
... I hate the way glasses move, when you're doing sports of any sort, and also fall off if you're at any sort of angle. And I hate being misted-up when I go indoors during winter-time. But I won't be undergoing laser eye surgery any time soon ever, and contact lenses are the work of the devil. Well, an opthalmological devil, anyway. ...
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Agreed. However ...

There's another, more positive, aspect to living bespectacled ...

Over the decades I've been repeatedly asked why I don't consider contacts or surgical correction. My answer has always been the same - even if I didn't need to wear eyeglasses, I'd still wear eyeglasses just to protect my eyes.

Here are some examples why ...

About 55 years ago I was doing some casual archery with a friend. He slipped / tripped upon aiming, loosing the (luckily blunt-tipped) arrow off to the side as he fell ...

... affording me the rare experience of watching a fast arrow incoming directly at my left eye. :eek:

There was no time to evade it ... It struck my thick glass lens, deflected upward, and left me with nothing worse than a scar between my eyebrows, still faintly visible all these years later.

On another occasion a boy, unaware I was standing behind him, test-swung a baseball bat squarely across my face. The bat hit my eyeglasses' bridge, shattering the frame into halves. The frame absorbed most of the impact, leaving me with nothing more than a bruise atop my arrow scar and a bad headache.

Finally, there were many occasions when I was doing the hobby mechanic bit lying beneath a vehicle and had hot, sticky, and / or caustic fluids drop onto my face. None of it ever got to / into my eyes.

People still ask why I don't shed the glasses. I still wonder why everybody else isn't wearing them for safety's sake ... :cool:
 
EnolaGaia said:
Agreed. However ...

There's another, more positive, aspect to living bespectacled ...

Over the decades I've been repeatedly asked why I don't consider contacts or surgical correction. My answer has always been the same - even if I didn't need to wear eyeglasses, I'd still wear eyeglasses just to protect my eyes.

Here are some examples why ...

About 55 years ago I was doing some casual archery with a friend. He slipped / tripped upon aiming, loosing the (luckily blunt-tipped) arrow off to the side as he fell ...

... affording me the rare experience of watching a fast arrow incoming directly at my left eye. :eek:

There was no time to evade it ... It struck my thick glass lens, deflected upward, and left me with nothing worse than a scar between my eyebrows, still faintly visible all these years later.

On another occasion a boy, unaware I was standing behind him, test-swung a baseball bat squarely across my face. The bat hit my eyeglasses' bridge, shattering the frame into halves. The frame absorbed most of the impact, leaving me with nothing more than a bruise atop my arrow scar and a bad headache.

Finally, there were many occasions when I was doing the hobby mechanic bit lying beneath a vehicle and had hot, sticky, and / or caustic fluids drop onto my face. None of it ever got to / into my eyes.

People still ask why I don't shed the glasses. I still wonder why everybody else isn't wearing them for safety's sake ... :cool:
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Having done archery fairly seriously eye injuries are not uncommon, particularly when stringing a recurve.
 
EnolaGaia said:
Agreed. However ...

There's another, more positive, aspect to living bespectacled ...

Over the decades I've been repeatedly asked why I don't consider contacts or surgical correction. My answer has always been the same - even if I didn't need to wear eyeglasses, I'd still wear eyeglasses just to protect my eyes.

Here are some examples why ...

About 55 years ago I was doing some casual archery with a friend. He slipped / tripped upon aiming, loosing the (luckily blunt-tipped) arrow off to the side as he fell ...

... affording me the rare experience of watching a fast arrow incoming directly at my left eye. :eek:

There was no time to evade it ... It struck my thick glass lens, deflected upward, and left me with nothing worse than a scar between my eyebrows, still faintly visible all these years later.

On another occasion a boy, unaware I was standing behind him, test-swung a baseball bat squarely across my face. The bat hit my eyeglasses' bridge, shattering the frame into halves. The frame absorbed most of the impact, leaving me with nothing more than a bruise atop my arrow scar and a bad headache.

Finally, there were many occasions when I was doing the hobby mechanic bit lying beneath a vehicle and had hot, sticky, and / or caustic fluids drop onto my face. None of it ever got to / into my eyes.

People still ask why I don't shed the glasses. I still wonder why everybody else isn't wearing them for safety's sake ... :cool:
Click to expand...

Yikes. I'm only a part time wearer these days. I wore glasses full time from 2-23 so when they said I didn't have to wear them all the time I leapt at the chance to have some bare eyes for a change. After your post I might change my mind. On a windy day you do get some rubbish in your eyes.

Also how annoying is it when non wearers want to try your glasses on for a laugh? They ain't cheap either.
 
EnolaGaia said:
Agreed. However ...

There's another, more positive, aspect to living bespectacled ...

Over the decades I've been repeatedly asked why I don't consider contacts or surgical correction. My answer has always been the same - even if I didn't need to wear eyeglasses, I'd still wear eyeglasses just to protect my eyes.

Here are some examples why ...

About 55 years ago I was doing some casual archery with a friend. He slipped / tripped upon aiming, loosing the (luckily blunt-tipped) arrow off to the side as he fell ...

... affording me the rare experience of watching a fast arrow incoming directly at my left eye. :eek:

There was no time to evade it ... It struck my thick glass lens, deflected upward, and left me with nothing worse than a scar between my eyebrows, still faintly visible all these years later.

On another occasion a boy, unaware I was standing behind him, test-swung a baseball bat squarely across my face. The bat hit my eyeglasses' bridge, shattering the frame into halves. The frame absorbed most of the impact, leaving me with nothing more than a bruise atop my arrow scar and a bad headache.

Finally, there were many occasions when I was doing the hobby mechanic bit lying beneath a vehicle and had hot, sticky, and / or caustic fluids drop onto my face. None of it ever got to / into my eyes.

People still ask why I don't shed the glasses. I still wonder why everybody else isn't wearing them for safety's sake ... :cool:
Click to expand...
Same, having worn them since around 1985. I've graduated to 'wrap around over-glasses for 'shades, they're cheaper than a second pair of prescription - I always wear those for groundwork, it's saved me from many twigs in the eye and probably (as recently happened to a pal of mine) an ember from a fire in the eye. Not motivated for contacts...
 
I'm glad of the safety aspects that spectacle-wearing has afforded me.
When I was in my 20s, I used to make terrariums for a hobby. This involved joining together bits of glass with plumber's solder in a really thick bead along each seam.
On one occasion, a drop of hot solder bounced off the glass and up to my face, hitting one of the lenses of my glasses. I was glad of that close escape. After that, I made the effort to wear goggles.
 
Mythopoeika said:
I've experienced this. I've also been able to see a reflection of my own retina with the lighting just right.
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The only time I've had that is when I was having my eyes tested and they do the funny thing with all the lenses, very vivid and very weird, seems massive and covered in... dunno if they're blood vessels or raised bits, so clear I could see them in relief. :eek:
 
Sometimes when the sun is very bright I'll see the blood vessels in my eyes, I don't have to have glasses on though.
 
I wear contacts and have just got around to buying a new pair of glasses after I stood on my other pair years ago. I must admit I'm seeing stuff all the time when the lenses get greasy.
 
With smart contact lenses about to become reality, seeing things - scrolling text, biometrics, musical notation, alarm notifications etc. could soon become commonplace.

lens.png


https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-61318460
 
Mythopoeika said:
When I was in my 20s, I used to make terrariums for a hobby. This involved joining together bits of glass with plumber's solder in a really thick bead along each seam.
On one occasion, a drop of hot solder bounced off the glass and up to my face, hitting one of the lenses of my glasses. I was glad of that close escape. After that, I made the effort to wear goggles.
Click to expand...
Up to the 1960s (and still now on listed buildings) soil and drain pipes used to be cast iron and the joints were caulked and sealed with molten lead. An older plumber I worked with once told me about when he was working with a plumbers mate fitting a soil pipe through two floors of a house. He was upstairs melting some lead to run into a joint he had just prepared when his mate called up to him through the soil pipe shaft, just as he tipped the lead into the joint. A small splash of lead fell down and as his mate had his mouth open it dropped onto the inside of his bottom lip.
 
Naughty_Felid said:
Having done archery fairly seriously eye injuries are not uncommon, particularly when stringing a recurve.
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and when people stand in front of the arrow when pulling it from a target, instead of to the side and pulling it past them.
 
Frideswide said:
and when people stand in front of the arrow when pulling it from a target, instead of to the side and pulling it past them.
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More dangerous to the male :)

I was a damn good archer, one of the things you can do with one eye and eyeglasses, though I had to retrain myself to be left handed. Represented England a couple of times, though best result at an international was fifth in the Euros. Not that I actually care - it was something I enjoyed, but as you get older you realise all this stuff is just fleeting compared to real life. By which I mean love, children, etc.

I've always had a mischievous desire to do naughty things with my false eye, like have a tiny skull painted on the pupil. or get an old one and spray it silver. Last month had to take it out and show it to a bunch of kids in the village who had heard of it but didn't believe. They loved it. Good for them :)
 
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Cochise said:
I've always had a mischievous desire to do naughty things with my false eye, like have a tiny skull painted on the pupil. or get an old one and spray it silver. Last month had to take it out and show it to a bunch of kids in the village who had heard of it but didn't believe. They loved it. Good for them :)
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Get it done as the Eye of Sauron!
 
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