Illusion and imagination
This area of application differs from the others, as no tracking of the user's eyelids is required; it investigates the effects of eye closure on the perception of visual content. Before discussing the ideas, I will give a short overview:
Based on the fact that we cannot stop thinking, the idea of a book arose that had to be read with temporarily closed eyes: after each paragraph, the reader had to close his eyes for ten seconds - only then the next paragraph would be revealed. A first test, however, showed that reading might be not the best approach as it was perceived as inadequately slow. Later, I edited a first-person perspective video of a bungee-jump, by blackening passages of the video, yet keeping the sound as it was. During the black passages, the users were supposed to close their eyes - I was hoping that this might induce a vivid mental image, similar to what McCloud referred to as 'blood in the gutter'.
In parallel, the idea formed to use closed eyes as a 3D 'display'. As an initial experiment, I asked a group of users to compare their perception of a 3D sound while having the eyes open with the perception of the same sound while having the eyes closed.
As the first user comments of the 'bungee-jumping video' also pointed to a need of good sound while having the eyes closed, I edited a second movie, showing a 'russian roulette' situation, and used both the 'blackening' (as in the first movie) and specially edited stereo sound to create an, as I hoped, more immersive experience.
