How to move one eye on its own (and the science of eye movement)

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You can train yourself to move one eye independent of the other. Here's how to do it. I also talk about the science of eye movement: saccades, smooth pursuit, vestibulo-ocular and vergance.
Here's the story about Susan R Barry: www.psychologytoday.com/us/bl...
Here are brilliant.org's principals: brilliant.org/principles/
Twitter: / moulds
Instagram: / stevemouldscience
Facebook: / stevemouldscience
Buy nerdy maths things: mathsgear.co.uk

[@nielsssg]

I've tried this and now im permanently blind in one eye. I knew holding one eyeball in place with a screwdriver wasn't a good idea

[@ricardoronaldo837]

Profile pic checks out

[@cthulhufhtagn7520]

This gave me a nice sensible chuckle

[@Lorkisen]

Made me laugh

[@cherryblossom8710]

👏

[@GaminGuy_]

Nox oh thank god i thought this was serious for a moment there

[@BrantAxt]

8:29 "do this now, close you eyes" Me: ok *eyes closed* 8:36 "ok, now turn around like this" Me: like what?

[@NiceEyeballs]

when hes says Like This, I'm like I would trust a video, about something doing right now.

[@harryithink5336]

Aarav Rahtole what language are you speaking...

[@furkan10ky]

@@harryithink5336 We'll never know

[@Thermalimploder]

Literally what I did! lmao

[@karna5998]

@@harryithink5336 when he said "like this" , I'm like "I would trust a video about something, right now"

[@DavidSprings]

This is a handy skill to quickly solve those "spot the differences in these two images" things. Crossing your eyes will overlay the two images, making the differences instantly obvious.

[@nekoacid1667]

I was doing this trick in school all the time. This way you could also compare printed documents but it's hard because you need to cross eyes a lot

[@davidroddini1512]

Unfortunately, I am unable to do this as I have amblyopia (lazy eye). Both of my eyes are naturally turned out slightly. I am unable to even get a single image, let alone cross my eyes.

[@raven6607]

i cant focus doing it and if i try focusing the other people cant even notice it

[@raven6607]

however im trying to write with my non-denominant hand which at least works

[@louiemolan8677]

why did this never crossed my mind omg genius

[@blockoftrash]

This guy: breathing is involuntary Me: *starts breathing voluntarily*

[@okayest_pianist]

😭😭😭

[@NoTLucas]

Oh don't mind me, just reminding you to swallow saliva and blink.

[@dingo-gorditas]

@@NoTLucas i hate you

[@SimsRock605]

Lol yeah bit when u breathe voluntarily it don’t feel right

[@Catastropheshe]

Panik 😰

[@logangrove4103]

Man, everyone must've looked so weird watching this...

[@coffeecat.1977]

FBI man is freaking out

[@dejan1260]

@@coffeecat.1977 best comment ever.

[@somethingwithbungalows]

I always go cross eyed with one eye cause my vision sucks.

[@NoLuv4kytezz]

No pun intended

[@a6ix]

Logan Grove I was just wondering how retarded our FBI agents thought we were

[@InfiniteDrillWorks]

I have now obtained a pointless, creepy skill that will probably not help me in any concievable way. Thank you.

[@CarnageExecutioner]

I knew how to do this for over a decade. I learned it on my own when I was 4 or 5.

[@brianiskool3915]

Cheating on a test

[@CarnageExecutioner]

@@brianiskool3915 doesn't work like that.

[@InfiniteDrillWorks]

@@CarnageExecutioner i knew how to cross eyes easily, i just needed his concept of looking with one eye to do it myself, so that was pretty neat

[@WizzygamingYT]

im not a mathematician but 1 is better than 0

[@caramellatte1828]

I used to cross/blur my eyes all the time without needing to focus on something and didn't even know that one of my eyes moved and the other didn't until a friend pointed it out. It's certainly a fun gag to pull on people when I get bored LOL

[@Francisco43212]

same

[@asillygoofygoober]

I thought that my eyes look normal blured😭

[@Bouncing_Bub]

picks up giant eyeball with bloody hands on them “shut up it’s a good model”

[@monkeseeaction21987]

10pm: bed time, one more video. 3am: HOW TO MOVE ONE EYE ON ITS OWN

[@GaminGuy_]

Can confirm

[@Dizastermaster.]

It... It's 10pm right now. Don't curse me

[@falcy2889]

@@Dizastermaster. and it was exactly 10:00 PM when i saw this comment HOW?! AND WHY?!

[@zorann_]

Legit waching this at 12 pm wtf

[@xiqzoh]

Watching this at 3am lmao

[@liquidphilosopher1816]

Instruction not clear.. Ended up shooting lasers

[@tricky4735]

Hmm wonder what kind of instructions you followed

[@WIEIRDO]

He muted and watched final destination whilr hearing this audio!

[@user-se5xg3vz8p]

IS THIS A MOTHERFUCKING SUZUMIYA REFERENCE!???

[@justs_]

Space Ripper Stingy Eyes

[@harringtongeorge4441]

thank you so much that made my freaking day

[@isabellescales3763]

Him: *picks up model* Me: *starts laughing* Him: "Shut up, it's a good model." Me: *laughs harder*

[@Catastropheshe]

It's awesome model 🤣

[@Fedico7000]

Same

[@MikkoRantalainen]

Interesting. I always did the "move just one eye invards" trick by imagining a fly flying near my face in front of my right eye and trying to focus my eyes there. This causes similar movement but also moves focus point to really close which causes extra eyestrain. Doing the trick you're describing here and just keeping one of the double images static makes it easier to do the same trick without close focus.

[@chasegreene1084]

37 likes no comments? Lemme fix that

[@zeyad1547]

thats the first time a youtube vid said that “it is easy” and it actually turns out easy

[@beemo4]

Dankified memer it isnt..

[@zeyad1547]

1000 subs with videos? Mens no u

[@beemo4]

Dankified memer wait what

[@zeyad1547]

1000 subs with videos? Mens E

[@brbrownfieldxvx]

Zoomer vs boomer

[@Rubrickety]

I too learned this ability when I was a kid. It's a useful skill - drives the ladies wild! No, wait, away. Drives them away. That was it.

[@thesleepydot]

😂😂😂

[@victoriacampbell9335]

🤣

[@wizardo1012]

still wild

[@Freakazoid12345]

I always ask people to give me their bikes. (from the movie Friday)

[@silic8873]

oh

[@spazmeister1791]

I got freaked out by trying to record myself going cross-eyed. I looked straight ahead, then I moved my right eye independently of my left. I had no idea!

[@lucberger1349]

Very interesting to hear about the smooth pursuit movement at 7:30 usually being involuntary! I've always been able to do it voluntarily! It's much easier to do it from right to left, but I can smoothly move my vision in all directions if I want to. Just always thought it was normal.

[@dharveyftw7349]

I can also do this, though I must admit that it's not very easy, like when he had his two fingers up, I had to try a couple of times before I could get the full distance without snapping.

[@herpderpinson6117]

I’m able to do it voluntarily without following any object like a moving finger, but at least for me it only works while rolling my eyes around the perimeter of their movement/my vision

[@elliotbrittain2064]

How do you know you can do this? Have you filmed yourself, like a selfie video, while smoothly (not)pursuing. I bet you twenty bucks you're actually having smaller saccades. The brain is a fascinating trickster.

[@lucberger1349]

@@elliotbrittain2064 good point, I didn't try filming myself at the time I made this comment. Just did now though and can 100% confirm it's a completely smooth movement.

[@verm0gen]

i think he is sayin that your destination isn't the other point actually you try to go there smoothly and so your brain calculates a cascade so close to that point every time so if you try to go smooth what you are trying is not to jump a noticable distance instead use really small ones you think that is smooth and it is smooth but your brain calculates so small destinations to make is smooth i hope i am clear because even i didn't understand that

[@chromberries7329]

I learned how to quickly give myself a headache, thanks.

[@finnt8014]

Chromberries シ Yee Same hahaha

[@BlackSkyMusicTV]

😂😂😂😂

[@the_furf_of_july4652]

A useful skill!

[@thatnongayfurry5063]

@@the_furf_of_july4652 get a headache really usefull

[@bucketofcolslaw2429]

ye my brain hurt

[@thunderwolf1151]

me, who only has one working eye: yes this will be useful information

[@simplyemily8251]

Irene Wolf lol

[@itay1232]

S M O R T

[@mrbyronpillay5296]

Omg is ur eye ok

[@RobertNowagarski]

Thats fucking hysterical

[@blazingtrs6348]

Irene Wolf mission successfully failed

[@Sleksin]

Metronome eyes. I've always been able to manually un-focus my eyes (so that they look parallel rather than at a point) and discovered this some times during my childhood. I've never been able to move my eyes beyond parallel (so rather than converging on a point if front of me, they converge 'behind'), which would be cool if I could do it. Another eye thing I've tried messing with is seeing through one. If I unfocus, sometimes one eyes image will be more or less visible, such as part of a pencil appearing to go invisible, but I've never been able to control it. Turning an eye on/off at will, even to a minor extent, would be neat.

[@paulstelian97]

I've noticed that when I go parallel I actually do have the exactly-parallel position and feel like with certain movements I can temporarily go past that (but it wouldn't _stabilize_ in that new position)

[@kylejonesUB]

That's my current goal- be able to look the opposite of cross-eyed. Kind of expand my FOV.

[@pottacoola]

These eye videos your doing is helping me to do new exercises for my eyes so i can regain my eyesight. Iv been doing them for a year so i don't need to wear glasses again and have been successful so far.

[@PeidosFTW]

Jokes on you, I only have one eye so only moving that eye creates that effect with no work

[@gabe5499]

I like to peidar because peidos are you a cyclops?

[@PeidosFTW]

Gabe Hey basically yes I am

[@KOZMOuvBORG]

Odin?

[@jeroenheijmans3937]

This video wasnt made for you Get out of here you cheating troll ;)

[@myqueen1838]

🤣

[@OrionFyre]

"Take breathing for example..." *immediately stops rhythmic breathing and can only breath by thinking about it*

[@user-uj5iq1lg3d]

Why did I read this now I have the same problem as you .-.

[@bassnbluegill1406]

Stop

[@perturbthepixel1410]

oh god it's happening

[@lightentityx8013]

Lmao

[@Andy-hz2ef]

Orion Fyre This is some scary shit!

[@onmaru5526]

With some practice, I was able to recognize whether lights flicker and how fast they flicker while saccading. I just had to consciously move my eyes up and down very quickly in front of a light source (e.g. LED), and I could see a light trail in my field of vision. Depending on the type of lamp, the trail was either interrupted or continuous. A very interesting experience. And just mentioned on the side: If you can hum deeply, the letters on certain electronic display boards (LED) start to wobble depending on the frequency.

[@botondban2290]

Your videos, especially this type makes me feel so lucky, that I can do these exercises, I am healthy, and I am also able to understand most of what you are explainig to us. Thanks a lot!

[@lolleepop8720]

my right eye: watching adult vid my left eye:**looks at right eye** hey what u doing?

[@bazzery8414]

Lolleepop adUlt vid

[@justarandomperson7798]

😂🤣🤣🤣🤣

[@deprived55]

@@bazzery8414 bruh 😂

[@zoomerrk]

aDulT ViDeo

[@spadebeats7334]

8:30 "rest your fingers on your eyelids, do it now" "Now move like this"

[@TheGentilable]

Genius, I thought precisely the same, lol 😂

[@plush_mems4155]

LMFAO 🤣💀

[@abdussamiurooj3936]

Omg 🤣😂😂😅😅😂🤣😂😂😂

[@sickumarboiii5368]

WTF LOL

[@Johnny.j]

I too grew up doing all opf this stuff and fascinated by the mystery behind eye tricks, it's so beautiful to watch a whole video addressing this

[@hlmartelli]

Amazing! It was helpful indeed! I always asked my self how people could move only one eye and with your explanation I got it. It is so simple. Thank you man. :)

[@therbz]

"you will *smoothly* pursue my finger" > 30fps

[@jameswalker199]

Its sort of like a matte finish, its technically not smooth, but it feels smoother than a glossy finish to most people.

[@Snotwheels]

@@jameswalker199 what

[@charginginprogresss]

As if you can see all of them, pfft.

[@skyy9655]

Read that but remove pur in pursue it will be funny

[@mattiskratti]

@@charginginprogresss I really hope this is a joke. Console scrub.

[@bentsprockettech]

Thank you for the story on Susan Barry. Amazing! Don't let someone tell you that things are impossible, test it for yourself. :) Thanks for sharing this with us.

[@Mountaingypsytrading]

Im glad to have found this video! I have been able to move both my eyes independently for years.. and I can do the stop, and backwards thing you spoke of. Whoa! About the little blind spots..! I could make my eyes stay put during the hands over your eyes exercise…it was easier to do that than to try to let them move naturally..wow! Thanks for this!

[@cryofantasia]

i haven't watched the entire video but i'm pretty sure that so far i lost the ability to blink automatically

[@theholderscock]

It might just be you thinking about trying to automatically blink but then your brain tells your body not to because your doing it manually

[@chlopaczekhula3524]

You are now breathing Now you’re breathing manually Les do some weird stuff with our eyes You are now blinking manually

[@oo-gg6yo]

@Gabriel Ramirez *Squeeze lung* *Blow out air from nose* *Breathe in through nose* *Allow lung to be inflated*

[@SparkPSX]

I lost that the moment i read this comment

[@Blaxpoon]

Pls stop. Help.

[@maebn]

Oh my god. As soon as you said “you have to follow one side while crossing your eyes” I was able to do that trick and I laughed so hard when I filmed my eyes and realized that I can do it.

[@GoldenLeafsMovies]

Not gonna lie I did this too. XD

[@ObezEdits]

Same dude ahahaha

[@Canshyow]

Same

[@jashaswimalyaacharjee9585]

Same Dude

[@2Garins]

heheh damn, are you me

[@TheStarBlack]

Ahhh Steve this video is the best thing I've watched on KZbin for a long long time! A perfect combination of fascinating and entertaining. My favourite bit is the hidden blindness during rapid eye movements. That's just incredible. Cheers! 🍹

[@krum3155]

Wow, I tried moving one eye with his explanation, filmed myself doing to check later and it worked on the first try, amazing!

[@kyuubi_0261]

Instructions unclear Ended up having a Sharingan

[@theodorebutaverage5688]

I got a Rinnegan

[@Malravenous]

Ah, it wasn't just me

[@masterzz57]

what’s that

[@sircameaIot]

@@masterzz57 Oof

[@abow6138]

Lol

[@xyAspect]

Instructions not clear. I have obtained a third eye

[@smilingface2006]

i'm not telling you where the shinju is.

[@brandons1682]

YourPalNicky does your third eye happen to be blind?

[@theknownone7707]

YourPalNicky NEO TRI BEAM

[@tfkoincognito]

Brown eye?

[@googavo1d]

two third eyes.

[@Rukifennec]

I forgot where I learned this skill for 2 years until I began looking for more tricks, I now do this every blue moon when looking at someone and it always makes them confused and/or worried, love it.

[@SnowMexicann]

Thank you for this, just from this video I could successfully do it on my second attempt and after a couple more I can now successfully move both eyes on their own without having a stimulus.

[@superj1e2z6]

My eyes are breaking

[@sean..L]

Now that’s what i call an eyes breaker

[@TheDantheman12121]

I am not even kidding tried doing the first one and now my eyes are all blurry

[@NoSubsWithContent]

i was already easily able to do all this stuff without knowing it i can focus on two people at the same time and they think im not paying any attention because my eyes are all over the place

[@0berholzer]

Yep i am blind now

[@ermal5035]

You have reached your limit proud warrior son goku

[@saubererzauberer1230]

"close your eyes, do it now. And then rest you fingers on your eyelids and then turn around like this" Me: *with closed eyes "like what?"

[@inflammatorycommentswithno2407]

Hah so funny! LOL! hahaha I’m dying bruh 🔥🔥😂 Funny haha!

[@smolpp585]

@@inflammatorycommentswithno2407 Hah so funny! LOL! hahaha I’m dying bruh 🔥🔥😂 Funny haha!

[@Miles300s]

@@bleeeeh Hah, so funny! LOL! hahaha I'm dying bruh 🔥🔥😂 Funny haha!

[@justarandomperson7798]

@@Miles300s hah, so funny! LOL! hahaha I'm dying bruh funny haha🔥🔥😂

[@nikoszebeltzis6222]

@@justarandomperson7798 Hah so funny! LOL! hahaha I’m dying bruh 🔥🔥😂 Funny haha!

[@itsbigwood5175]

Seriously, worked first try! I had already practiced going cross-eyed on demand while looking forward and your instructions worked instantly for me

[@cadenjordan664]

i did this on accident when i was like 4 and i was really fascinated by it because ive always been able to control my eyes when they are crossed very well like moving the images back and forth and i would do to scare my mom often, i didnt know this was a skill that was readily available for anyone to learn and watching this video and seeing that you could practice to do it it was cool to reflect on how i figured it out. i enjoyed this video, very educational

[@Blue-hn7wr]

4am: KZbin: hey wanna learn how to move one eye

[@Masadaeus]

blue its 3am for me haha

[@RowingGameDev]

its already 8 AM help

[@masonmann4104]

Y E S

[@londongardner6600]

Blue 5am*

[@abyss_mage8822]

3am

[@FrozenFox20]

*Don't cross your eyes son or they will get stuck and stay that way the rest of your life* Anyone else heard this? 😂

[@NiceEyeballs]

my maternal grandfather used to say this, he says, dont move your eyes to fast or they would stuck.

[@The_Cooler_Will]

Lmao yes I did hear it a lot in my childhood

[@ashleydapanda7678]

Myth lol

[@Kerbezena]

Yup, born in the late 80s. If I recall correctly, I didn't buy it anymore as early as elementary school. I demanded to be shown anyone who's eyes got stuck. (I think it should have been clear back then that I would grow up to be a skeptic.)

[@5301abhi]

I was told that if you sneezed when your cross eyed then you’ll be stuck

[@user-yn8fb8cd8d]

'Do you want to be able to become like a lizard and move one eye by itself?' Nine hundred and thirty four thousand people: *y e s*

[@anastasiabraucht2645]

Ha! I used to love magic eye pictures and was always able to figure them out first. I can also move each eye independently (with no training) just assumed it was my weird human trick, as I cannot roll tongue. Awesome to know the science behind it and how I train my eyes to be freakier! Btw you're amazing! Thank you!

[@ragnarokvii]

I’ve been unconsciously doing that since a few years now EDIT: i liked my own comment 154 times

[@KILOSHORT]

Pulse VII sub-consciously

[@matthewm3]

Pulse VII I have always screwed around with my eyes when bored so I can keep the images far apart easily.

[@sna1466]

SixFootSeven no, unconsciously.

[@Praisethefab]

me too,i always thought that the pain i had at the eye when i did this was just because i was putting my eyes under stress by cross-eye them(sorry for bad English)

[@difo1]

I have had that since i was born

[@Churrosv1]

Nobody: No-one: Absolutely not a soul: Steve: *Shut up it’s a good model*

[@lala-kc3br]

He looks like a human version of Steve from minecraft too

[@lala-kc3br]

Why did i mention that

[@epicgaming7813]

la la lol

[@flatcatart]

This comment appeared as he said that.

[@smd_444]

IRAz T0 omg I read this at the exact time he said this 😂😂😂😂

[@iamthirdyt]

At 3-5 years old I told my mom why did I see 2 things at the same time, and she had no idea what I was talking about! So I thought I had some eye problems. Then around 10 I figured out I could use it to see Magic Eye images and is just focusing on something farther away, so no problems! But then I wondered how my eyes would look like during this process and lamented I would never figure it out. After watching the intro to your video, I realized I can also just take a video of my eyes now with current technology and answered my decades-old question finally!! It was so bizarre!! Thanks so much!!

[@kd7jhd]

Worked like a charm...learn something new every day. Thank you.

[@engineer0239]

"Its important to be comfortable with failure. Schools should teach this" Schools: what? You don't know? Prepare to die!

[@Crepnick]

*Me, who has had lazy eye my whole life:* wait so going cross-eyed is supposed to be difficult?

[@andresv.8880]

I don't even know about lazy eye, but it's always been easy to go cross eyed, though it only happens if I will it, not unintentionally

[@ab-sterdam711]

You’re cross eyed? Cool! Does effect your sight at all? Do you have blurry vision or see 2 images separating from each other? Does it give you headaches?

[@VitalyClipz]

I got amblyopia as well. I do it to people and they’re like “wait teach me how you do it” and I have no explanation for it 😂

[@getjinxed96]

Same! Mine is very mild through, I can control it so its not really an issue for m3

[@getjinxed96]

@@ab-sterdam711 personally it doesnt give me headaches. When my eye goes the other way, I do see it separate, but its very blurry

[@pragati6218]

OMG! that last part is truly enlightening.

[@iagobozza]

Ok. These things are so awesome in so many unexpected ways! Really great video!

[@neongamerlp9856]

WAIT, IT'S THAT EASY??

[@mozza1918]

NeonGamerLP lol

[@retrogaming7581]

Ikr

[@zacharymesecke9638]

I'm so doing this to people

[@kaiko1360]

Lil

[@iz723]

A cool way is to go cross-eyed, then look left, go cross-eyed, look right.

[@ethangrazier4899]

Your enthusiasm for new things you've learnt is truly inspiring and is something i think a lot of people should relate to more.

[@miczell]

@Steve Mould. I just can't help falling in that state: you talk and explain and I listen and understand :). It goes so flawlessly that every time it occurs... I'm just speechless, only sitting here smiling like a child :)). And I'm genuinely happy and thankful to the Almighty Algorithms for bringing me here some time ago to this place in the web inhabited by your personality and passion for understanding things. Man, you have a gift! If I had such a teacher in physics/chemistry class - my life could have gone other route. You have the ability to find beauty in science and point it out for others to experience. To phrase that more accurately (maybe) - you seem to transfer something MORE than 'just' a knowledge. This spark, vibe, feeling. Very humanistic soul lives in your scientific brain ;). Thank you for sharing it. Greetings from Poland.

[@charlesbrown5737]

i did it!, my eyes were squinting, but i friggin did it yesssss cant wait to show mom thank u so much😌

[@uglycustard11]

Your brain is hiding the fact that it is hiding it -someone who taught me how to move one eye

[@sofiyamircheva]

I actually learnt to move my eyes separately on accident, my friend showed it to me and i tried it and succeeded lol, it was very random but since then i have been learning more skills that i can do with eyes. Now i can also shake one eye

[@CREMATORY.]

*_megalovania starts playing in the backround_*

[@pillowhead4723]

you- you can shake an eye-

[@jordyvelthuizen5766]

Just a little like bill skarsgard it how he looks with one eye

[@investzaku]

My classmate can vibrate his eyes.

[@sofiyamircheva]

Moonlight qwq yeah XD search it up its quite easy

[@chrisarnold7211]

Man, I figured this out as a kid. It's awesome knowing I'm not the only one! Nowadays when I do focus, i can see images from either eye at the same time and utsmighty weird!

[@RoberBot]

I was alredy able to cross eyes at any point and a lot, this little information made me amble to cross one eye, only took me 2 tryes ty a lot

[@andyseinfeld1954]

Now I can flex with my friends and classmates

[@IWantCustody]

Preposterous boast, but alas

[@LeonesAce]

Unorthodox gloat yet very invoking.

[@sleeplesscitynights]

awfulguitarplucker Weird flex but OK

[@light-master]

Wait, so I've been able to do this for years and never knew that I was moving one eye independant of the other??

[@ohheyezz3046]

William Bailey same i was so amazed that people could do that But i was doing it everytime

[@dadams106]

thought I could cross my eyes, when I would try I was always told only one eye was moving. cool ig

[@SolidSiren]

@@dadams106 Ahhh I think that is what Ive been doing all this time too.

[@jaedent2712]

I tried doing this with my friends in class, and i could barely do it but we ended up looking like we did crack.

[@ayelmao9058]

I saw a video where a girl can Unfocus her eyes or sum, and so I tried many many times and then I took a video and found out I was just only moving one eye😅

[@Sanky0]

I used to do this way before I watched this video and I didn't know what was going on, thanks for all the information!! 👍👍👍

[@enderking_13]

I’ve been able to do it before even learning of your channel. I am amazing at crossing my eyes. I can do it and read 2 lines of the same text.

[@annieleonhart9318]

Instructions unclear Cat stuck in washing machine

[@Jaketheaxman]

Wtf

[@moosinium]

Um what?

[@swamp2816]

*UGHHHHH* DADDY PULL IT OUT!!!

[@pudding8829]

Useless comment here

[@badreny]

My mom had the same problem

[@GariSullivan]

08:30 Viewers close their eyes 08:36 Viewers open their eyes to find out what 'this' means :D

[@Dying_Of_Thirst]

Thank you for giving me names for saccades and smooth pursuit, I spent a lot of time as a kid experimenting with how my eyes work and I noticed those, but never had a name for them. I've been trying for like 20 years now to do smooth pursuit voluntarily but no luck, the closest I've gotten is several smaller saccades instead of one big one. I guess while you were mastering vergence (which I've done less of), I was trying to tackle smooth pursuit. Definitely gonna try the camera vs mirror trick, that seems like it would be a good jumping off point to explain this to the kids, it'll blow their mind if they've never noticed before.

[@miff227]

I can smooth pursuit anywhere with left and right, I never trained up and down. Started with looking at the road out the car window as a kid, watching the white line. It was too fast to focus on and I had the car window frame as a reference, so I learned to be slightly de-focussed from the line and not moving my eye with respect to the car window frame. At some point I found I could travel my eye up and down the line a bit. That translated into being about to follow smoothly the line between ceiling and wall in say a large hall. Only left to right at first, "bouncing" out of the corners (so it felt). I added right to left, and eventually didn't need any line reference. I could just set any focus and smooth pursuit anywhere. The trick is to not be focussed on the thing (or person you are demonstrating to) but not really cross-eyed either, just say 10% nearer than the object. One you are unfocussed, your brain is not trying to saccade...to lock focus on the next point, it relaxes into the motion. Add in the single eye move in this vid and you can do some wild things. I can scan across, one eye sees a person, the other eye speeds up to lock on, the first eye then continues scanning etc. All good fun.

[@wdude9997]

8:31 I was on a treadmill when you told me to close my eyes; long story shot, I fell off the treadmill...

[@skrunkly5221]

Big oof

[@mickavellian]

Is this what drummers call "independence" drummers train to be able to to do one thing with each limb so I did the eye thing in 1 try. Jeez, now I am a drummer with vision problems

[@aaronschocke5463]

Hahaha, it is so true. Paradiddles with foot double strokes feel so wrong. I am struggle with paras, so I just completely fall apart.

[@fey0217]

no one: youtube: wanna learn how to move one eye

[@andresv.8880]

Me: F*CK YES

[@jangel8446]

no one: morons: no one: youtube: wanna learn how to move one eye

[@catsplay1232]

citrus meat same

[@laurir4519]

In what timestamp he teaches it? I don't have time to check this video out now...

[@sophiasbored9746]

i love this man he told me exactly what i wanted and why i clicked on the video THEN told me information 👏🏻 he is a god among clickbait men🙏🏻 thank u

[@kptech4028]

I learned to do this on a school trip because we were in the bus for hours and I was very bored. I've never thought of it this way. I think it would make it easier to learn.

[@fernandogurgel]

0:09 what is written in the stereogram is "SUBSCRIBE"

[@chris_3286]

How can you read that?

[@jhareddwaye5827]

Its actually really ez

[@chris_3286]

Jhärêd Dwayπe yea! I got it sooner or later 😆

[@jairogomez1403]

I havent practiced in a lot of years but i got it after about40 seconds

[@sluvvr]

Aha

[@birb2636]

I can do this But not intentionally.. so my eye sometimes just stares at one place while the other goes to a different side whenever I’m not focusing

[@IzaNoodle]

Same and it's annoying because I think I look really stupid when that happens

[@lsm_optix3176]

@@IzaNoodle lol it cool tho no lie

[@kzcreationzmore]

I got a not severe lazy eye aswell...... yet I cant move one eye when I actually try 🤦‍♀️

[@worstusernameintheworld9871]

Same, I have a really bad lazy eye

[@nordicwalker9590]

So im not the only one.

[@kopyto92]

Udało się przy pierwszej próbie. Nie wiedziałem, że mam to w sobie. Dzięki Tobie odkrywam nowe horyzonty. pozdrawiam serdecznie

[@_leaf-3525]

once, i was in elementary school, and my friend dillon was showing this off. i never knew how easy it really was, especially since ive almost always been able to cross my eyes easily thanks so much for telling us this, its a really cool thing that im sure i could freak out my friends with ;)

[@BiologyTube]

Great video, Steve. I'm a neuroscientist who studies eye movements as part of my research, and your explanations were spot on. There is one small caveat: while it is true that saccades are generally described as "ballistic," there is some small amount of ability to alter the trajectory of a saccade "in-flight." It's fairly subtle, but if you give new visual information about a saccadic target just after the decision to saccade is made but just before the saccade is initiated, the oculomotor system can alter the course of the saccade once the new information is processed, which due to neural processing delays will happen while the saccade is occurring. This can lead to saccades that follow a slightly curved trajectory. Anyway, this effect is pretty subtle, and to a first approximation, calling saccades "ballistic" is basically correct. There is one additional important type of eye movement you didn't mention, though: nystagmus, which is a regular side-to-side "beating" movement. There are two major types of nystagmus, which are closely related to smooth pursuits and the vestibulo-ocular reflex that you mentioned. "Opto-kinetic nystagmus" is what you get when you look out the window of a train at the passing landscape; your eye naturally tends to fixate on a point and track it via smooth pursuit until it passes out of your vision, at which point you make a rapid saccade-like eye movement back toward the "front" of the scene as it enters your field of view. OKN is kind of like a regular switching between smooth pursuits and saccades, but it's a highly specialized interaction of the two. Vestibulo-ocular nystagmus occurs when the vestibular system determines the head is rotating constantly. Like with the vestibulo-ocular reflex, the eye moves smoothly counter to the movement of the head, but saccade-like eye movements regularly "reset" the eye position. VON is easy to demonstrate by spinning in a rotating chair: you get VON both at the start of rotation and for several seconds after rotation due to the same overstimulation of the vestibular system that makes you feel dizzy. VON also occurs when you're drunk, and is one of the signs that American police regularly use as part of the roadside test if they suspect drunk driving. Also, a small minority of people can actually engage in voluntary nystagmus, with low-amplitude beating at about 4 Hz. When I was a kid, my brother used to do this to freak me out, and it was only much later as an adult when I started studying eye movements that I learned how rare this is! Eye movements are fascinating, I'm glad you made a video about them. (Incidentally, most people I know pronounce "saccade" such that it rhymes with "rod," but I'm in the U.S. and that may be an American/British English difference.)

[@4ortify]

BiologyTube, let's suppose I I'm sitting in the train and looking out of the window. Objects close to the train, for example adjacent railway, look blurruy due to high speed relatively to my field of view. However, if I make rapid eye movements in direction, opposite to train movement (for example, if window is at my left and I'm facing train movement direction, I should move eyes from right edge to the left edge as fast as possible) , for an instant I can get sharp image of adjacent lane or objects close to train.The question is, why brain is not switching off input from my eyes at these moments? And which category of eye movements this case is related to?

[@BiologyTube]

I think you're describing a high-velocity smooth pursuit movement, which briefly stabilizes the image of the close-by objects. In this case, the relative speed of the objects is probably too high for optokinetic nystagmus, but you can make a voluntary smooth pursuit movement to briefly stabilize the image of the nearby objects as they pass. Because this is a smooth pursuit rather than a saccadic eye movement, your brain preserves visual input as you move your eyes. That's my guess based on what you're describing, anyway.

[@1MissEllyLove]

I can "shake" my eyes. What kind of movement would that be?

[@1MissEllyLove]

@Why Be Average When You Can Be Savage are you just here to comment that you're too lazy to read it or not bright enough to understand what it says? Thank you for your contribution.

[@rabidL3M0NS]

When I'm in a moving vehicle and look out the side window ahead of me the ground is blurry, and then if i do a saccad to look behind so my eyes follow the quickly moving ground; I can briefly see the ground clearly with no blur as my eyes follow the ground during the saccad. But how is that possible if apparently you don't see during saccad?

[@izzayawise1428]

Is it just me or do y’all get dizzy keeping your eyes crossed

[@arent2295]

@@turtle150 ohh so that's why. Nice info

[@themalacc]

F i have that as well

[@Atrisce]

It actually works, I am really surprised that it's so easy! But I guess it has to be practised to look more like the way it looks when you do it, thanks!

[@kKing235]

That beginning picture is so fun to see for the first time, and it’s amazing

[@Gribbo9999]

When I was a student I learned to view stereoscopic aerial images without the stereoscopic viewer. Its handy. The trick is the reverse the left and right images then go cross-eyed until the images merge. The real trick is to decouple your cross-eyedness from the point of focus. So you go cross-eyed like you were looking at, say, something 5cm away but focus your eyes on the images which might be say 20 cm away. Evetually the merged photos pop into your brain in 3D as if you were using the viewer. It's a good trick to learn if you want to impress your friends with "spot the difference" pairs of pictures. Just cross your eyes, merge the two images and the differences just flash at you. You can pick them out in just seconds.

[@SteveMould]

Yes! I use it to cheat on spot the difference puzzles.

[@thoperSought]

wow! I can do that (if the pictures are small enough, so maybe I'm not doing it as well as you), but I never thought of using it for spot-the-difference puzzles. I have to try that, now!

[@ethancheung1676]

That’s a good trick for photo hunt!

[@GabrielWehrle]

Wow! Just tried this and it's awesome! The stereoscopic pictures end up looking much smaller to me than I think they would in the viewer, but still very cool!

[@joechief2456]

I can make my eyes diverge quite easily, I used it once to watch a VR recording in 3D without a viewer on my phone. The advantage is you don't need to reverse the images. The problem is because my eyes naturally tend to diverge without a proper process like the one in this video I've never been able to go crosseyed because you get the same double image if you diverge (except they're flipped, but that's not immediately obvious).

[@HexterXD]

Lol now teach me how to move both eyes to opposite directions

[@EatMyYeeties]

Yeeeeeeah, that's a muscular disorder.

[@HexterXD]

Smile Space oof

[@chelseabruh4346]

@@EatMyYeeties LMFAO

[@nfksoahavwkdphavqkdobza]

look at ur nose

[@spoockybro]

Stop. Your entering the matrix.

[@hectichive889]

Dang when you already know how to go crosseyed this is unbelievably easy. Got it on the first try when I recorded myself doing it. That advise at the beginning is super helpful

[@JimmyHey]

An ex-gf of mine used to do this one eye movement and I was so amazed by that that I pretty much taught myself to do this exactly the way you described how to do it as well, just on my own. That's crazy. I've never seen anyone else do it and when I asked like my sister or my best friend if they could do it, they, most of the time, just went crosseyed.

[@aspenbelle7766]

Another cool thing that some people have control over is the Tensor Tympani muscle in the ear. If you can voluntarily "pop" your ears you can control it. You should also be able to make a sort of rumbling sound in your ears. In a similar vein there is voluntary nystagmus which is being able to shake or quiver your eyes. It truly is interesting how many little muscles we can gain voluntary control of

[@connorp3030]

I can pop my ears voluntarily for know how you create the rumble though

[@desia.brimou]

That's what that the rumbling is???

[@connorp3030]

друг dealer ah I mean it sounds like a couple of pops, I thought you meant you could do it really smoothly constantly to get a smooth constant rumble

[@bennylofgren3208]

I thought everyone could do that.

[@MS-pz9wd]

eyo I can do both, although shaking my eyes often doesn't work and hurts after doing it for a while

[@wreck-itralph938]

*Instructions unclear: everything is upside down*

[@fpskoda467]

@Jourdan Brothern That's the puking emoji....

[@fpskoda467]

@Jourdan Brothern Was i supposed to know that? or

[@fpskoda467]

@Jourdan Brothern Strange...

[@omgronny-_]

Ur Australian

[@cookieslayer7075]

FPSKoda4 r/whooosh

[@deetee5861]

BRILLIANT! I can't believe that i can do this now! THANK YOU!

[@peteriskrumings8771]

for very long time I thought something wrong with my eyes because I discovered that I can do that eye movement long time ago, thanks to the video now I know it is how the eye works and my eye sight is fine :)

[@tomcraftdonkey2285]

New video title: "How to destroy your eyes"

[@ChunkieBoy777]

Tom Craft Donkey how does it destroy eyes?

[@enzoexcourn3002]

Brenden Chermok exactly

[@masterchief4189]

Enjoy the joke peeps 🍻

[@scorepoint8118]

More like brain

[@enzoexcourn3002]

@@masterchief4189 You mean the shitty attempt at humor?

[@yuribruxel6074]

Thanks to this video I discovered I can tell if a led is blinking at 60Hz by saccading continuously in front of it

[@mrkitty777]

Pulse Width Modulation of backlight brightness causes it. And the brighter the display the faster the backlight goes on and off. It's far more than 60Hz. But that you will find at Wikipedia.

[@Lizlodude]

This is also a good way to get someone to lose a staring contest, I'm told it looks really weird lol.

[@DakotaActually]

Figured it out before you finished explaining. thank you!

[@ShhheilaASMR]

This was so easy and worked right away for Me! Thanks!

[@domramsey]

I have an overwhelming urge to subscribe for some reason...

[@Pet_Hedgehog]

Ikr

[@BlazertronGames]

I did, and then realised I was already subscribed...

[@mcfloppy413]

Same

[@ethanw041]

Especially at that magic eye picture at the start

[@nomnom739]

HOLY CRAP I RECORDED MYSELF AND I ACTUALLY DID IT IM SO PROUD AJSFHLAKSJKGJ

[@vegalight196]

Same man it blew my mind!

[@bencebeothy9885]

I was also obsessed with these magic imagis when I was a kid, so controlled cross eye was not new for me but I ne er knew how to move only one eye. After you explanation I was able to it immedately. 😱 thanks 😁

[@timwells973]

Don't usually comment.... But totally appreciate these videos, got my subscription!! Thank you for these.....

[@iliketodoodle854]

“Try to look strait ahead-“ Me: has glasses. Me: ha. Hahah.hahahHAHAHHAHAHA

[@flines]

oh, so i cant do it?

[@cheezburgers6343]

You can still look straight ahead with glasses on

[@calus_bath_water]

I also have glasses, what's the problem?

[@notcha8080]

i have glasses too,, and it actually helps because i have something to focus on

[@DamageMaximo]

... i have glasses too