The ear senses
The semicircular canals in the inner ear detect that your head has turned.
A small mechanical miracle
Your eyes have a stabilizer
Turn your head. Your gaze stays put. A reflex in your inner ear moves your eyes the other way, so the scene does not slide away.
Move the slider below and watch the mechanism.
Try it
Move the virtual head
The slider represents a head turn. The target stays in the centre. Watch the eyes: they move the other way.
FIXED TARGET
Control
How far does the head turn?
- Head
- 0°
- Eyes
- 0°
- Scene
- steady
The head is straight. The eyes look ahead.
What is happening
A team of three
The vestibulo-ocular reflex works without a command from you. It links head movement to eye movement through a short chain of connections.
The brain links
The signal reaches the centres that coordinate the eye muscles.
The gaze holds
The eyes move the other way, keeping the target nearly still on the retina.