How Infants View Natural Scenes Gathered From a Head-Mounted Camera

The role of early visual experience in human infant development has been inferred primarily by studies of visual deprivation (e.g., cataracts). Another approach, described here, is to provide a detailed description of the visual input gathered by normal infants in their natural environment. Recently, several labs have begun the laborious process of obtaining video images from a head-mounted camera to provide an infant's eye-view of their visual world. Preliminary findings from one such study are reviewed and discussed in the context of the power and limitations of this approach for revealing important insights about the role of early visual experience, as well as the broader implications for studies of cognitive, language, and social development. (Optom Vis Sci 2009;86:561-565)