Definitions

20/20 Vision : 20/20 Vision indicates perfect visual acuity.

Achromatic : A color without hue, including White, Black and Gray only.

Adaptation : This allows us to see in many different intensities of light.

Amplitude : The distance in which a wave travels from its horizontal axis.

Analogous Color Scheme : Using colors that lie next to one another on the color wheel.

Angle : of Incidence : The angle at which light strikes a surface. This angle is measured from the light ray to the normal.

Angle : of Reflection : The angle at which light is reflected off of a surface. This angle, measured between the light ray and the normal, is equal to the angle of incidence.

Aperture : The opening in your eye that limits the quantity of light that enters.

Aqueous Humor : The limped, watery liquid that fills the area between the cornea and the lens.

Brightness : Measurement of the intensity of light/

Choroid : The Choroid is responsible for "normal" black irises and red eyes in photographs.

Chromatic : A color with hue, including Red, Green and Violet, etc.

Ciliary Muscles : The smooth muscle in the ciliary body that accommodates the eye.

CMV : CMV is an abbreviation for Cytomegalovirus, which attacks epithelial cells in the body.

Color : Described by the three dimensions - hue, value and intensity.

Complementary Color Scheme : Using colors directly opposite on the color wheel.

Cool (Receding) Colors : Greens, Blues and Violets.

Cones : Cones are photo-sensitive cells used for front and high-light vision. It is also named after its shape.

Congenital : Compatible [with the eye]

Construction : The process of putting together a series of visual clues to understand an image.

Density : A measure of how much of a substance exists in a certain amount of space.

Diabetes : A disease that impairs the ability of the body to use sugar and causes it to appear abnormally in the body.

Diurnal : Types of animals that stay awake during the day, when there is sunlight. Humans are an example.

Electromagnetism : The relationship between a changing electric field and a changing magnetic field.

Frequency : A measure of a wave’s speed of oscillation. Often measured by how many wavelengths pass a point in a period of time.

Hertz : Unit of measure for frequency. On Hertz represents one oscillation per second.


Hue : A specific color family name, with its relative degree of brightness of warmness or coolness.

Hypoglycemia : An abnormally low level of glucose, when pertaining to blood

Hypothalamus : An important section of the brain that regulates body temperature, blood pressure, heartbeat, metabolism, expression of emotions and sexual behaviors.

Incidence : In Physics, incidence refers to the arrival of radiation or a projectile at a surface.

Key Color : Dominant color in a color scheme and mixture.

Leitmotif : (leading motive) a dominant or re-occurring theme.

Lightness : Known usually as the "shade" of a color, and is measured and grey-scale, from black to white.

Luminance : Brightness and intensity of light.

Luminous : Luminous means "to glow." Cat's eyes seem to be creating light when they are actually reflecting it.

Macula : Area of discoloration on the skin, caused by lack or excess of pigment.

Mirror : Any reflective surface, usually a flat, transparent, polished glass backed with a silver coating.

Monochromatic Color Scheme: Using one color in different values.

Nanometer : One billionths of a meter.

Neutral Gray : Combination of Black and White.

Nocturnal : Types of animals that stay awake at night when there is little light present.

Normal : In Mathematics, the condition of being perpendicular.

Optical : Density : The measurement of how slowly light passes through an substance.

Oscillate : To swing back and forth with a steady, uninterrupted rhythm. (From the Latin oscillare, meaning swing.)

Peripheral Vision : Vision that is described as being "out of the corner of an eye," or in other words, out of the direct line of sight.

Phenomenal : Sense: Philosophers use the word phenomenal to mean an object that appears real to the mind, regardless of whether its underlying existence is proved or its nature understood.

Photometer : A device used to detect change and intensity of light.

Photopic : Phos is a Greek word meaning "light."

Pineal : Gland : A pea-sized gland in the brain that affects the human biological clock; including sleep and temperature patterns.

Pituitary : Gland : A small, oval gland at the base of the brain that controls hormone production, affecting growth, maturation and metabolism.

Plexiform Layer : Plexus means network, referring to the network of nerves in the eye.

Primary colors : Red, Yellow and Blue- cannot be mixed from any other colors.

Rays : Ray Model of Light A model which presents light as energy that travels in rays, or straight beams.

Real Image : An image that has light where the image appears to be.

Reflection : The act of returning a light wave upon its contact with a reflective surface

Refraction : The turning or bending of any wave, such as light and sound, when it passes

Relative : Sense : The sense in which we see objects that really do exist.

Retina : Reta is Latin for net, referring to the net of nerves that makes up the retina.

Rods : Rods are photo-sensitive cells used for peripheral and low-light vision. It is named after its shape.

Saturation : is the colorfulness of a stimulus relative to its own brightness.

Sclera : A dense, white membrane that, with the cornea, forms the external covering of the eyeball.

Scotopic : Skotos is a Greek word meaning "darkness."

Secondary colors : Two primary colors mixed together, resulting in orange, green and violet.

Shade : Color + Black.

Simultaneous : Brightness Contrast : Describes how we use the colors around an object to help to determine the color of that object.

Simultaneous contrast : refers to the manner in which the colors of two different objects affect each other. The effect is more noticeable when shared between objects of complementary color.

Simultaneous Lightness Contrast : Uses inhibition to make similar images

Split-Complementary Color Scheme : Using one color plus the two colors next to its complement on the color wheel.

Subjective : Generally, subjective refers to something particular to the point of the view of the viewer. In Psychology, subjective refers to something existing only in the observer’s mind.

Tertiary (Intermediate) Colors : One primary and one secondary mixed together.

Tetrad : Four colors equally spaced on the color wheel.

Three-dimensional : This term refers to height, width and depth.

Tint : Color + White.

Tone : Color + Gray or its compliment.

Triad : Three colors equally spaced on the color wheel.

Two-dimensional: This term refers to only height and width.

Undulate : To move in a small wave-like formation. (From the Latin undulare, meaning small wave.)

Value: The relative degree of lightness or darkness of a color.

View : Generic View Principle : The assumption our eyes make that accept you are seeing an object from a generic view, or a non-accidental view.

Virtual : Image : An image from which rays of reflected or refracted light appear to diverge, as from an image seen in a plane mirror.

Vitreous Humor : The transparent, gelatinous substance that occupies the eyeball behind the lens.

Warm (Advancing) Colors : Reds, Oranges and Yellows.

Wave : A disturbance traveling through a medium by which energy is transferred from one particle to another without causing permanent displacement of the medium itself.

Wavelength : The distance it takes a wave to make one full undulation.