Thirty games. One open way of seeing.
Every one grounded in research.

A large shape made of many small ones flashes by. Name the big shape, not the little ones it's built from.

Practises

Global precedence — seeing the forest before the trees.

Carry it with you

Carry a wide, big-picture read into a busy room or screen before the details pull you in.

The research

Global / holistic visual processing — the Navon global-precedence effect, in which the overall form is registered before its local parts (Navon, 1977).

A handful of everyday things share one hidden thread of meaning or use. Pick what truly belongs together — not what merely looks alike.

Practises

Relational, thematic seeing over surface labels.

Carry it with you

Notice how things connect by mood, moment, or purpose, rather than fixing on a single literal label.

The research

Thematic (relational) vs. taxonomic (feature-based) thinking (Lewis, Poeppel & Murphy, 2015); a verbal label can crowd out a holistic read (verbal overshadowing — Alogna et al., 2014). The size and reliability of these effects are still debated, so we grade it contested.

A scatter of shapes appears for a moment. Sense the group's overall size — not the one odd item out.

Practises

Ensemble perception of size.

Carry it with you

Take in the gist of a whole group at a glance instead of being captured by the standout.

The research

Ensemble perception: people rapidly and accurately extract the average size of a set, even when poor at any single item (Ariely, 2001; Chong & Treisman, 2003).

A group of faces flashes up. Read the crowd's overall mood, not the single most extreme face.

Practises

Ensemble perception of emotion.

Carry it with you

Sense the feeling of a whole room rather than over-weighting one striking expression.

The research

Rapid extraction of the average emotion from a crowd of faces (Haberman & Whitney, 2007; Haberman, Harp & Whitney, 2009).

A field of little lines flashes by. Sense which way it leans overall, past the one steep tilt.

Practises

Ensemble perception of orientation.

Carry it with you

Read the overall flow and tilt of a scene before any single angle grabs you.

The research

The visual system averages the orientation of many elements into a single estimate (Dakin & Watt, 1997; Parkes, Lund, Angelucci, Solomon & Morgan, 2001).

A scatter of dots appears briefly. Sense where the whole cloud balances — not where the one big dot sits.

Practises

Ensemble perception of position (the centroid).

Carry it with you

Feel where a whole scene settles and balances before one large thing pulls your eye.

The research

People represent the centroid (average position) of a set of items at a glance, even outside the focus of attention (Alvarez & Oliva, 2008; Alvarez, 2011).

Two colours of dots appear mixed together. Sense which there's more of — or whether they're about the same — without counting, and without being fooled by bigger pieces.

Practises

The approximate number sense.

Carry it with you

Estimate and compare quantities at a glance instead of stopping to count.

The research

Beyond a few items, people estimate and compare numerosity rapidly and without counting; this approximate number sense is well established (Halberda, Mazzocco & Feigenson, 2008; Dehaene, The Number Sense, 2011).

A grid of dots flashes up. Let the whole pattern settle — rows, columns, or diagonals — and don't let one bright streak pull you another way.

Practises

Gestalt grouping by proximity.

Carry it with you

Let a whole field organise itself for you instead of effortfully searching it.

The research

Grouping by proximity: nearer elements organise into rows, columns, or diagonals (Wertheimer, 1923; Kubovy & Wagemans, 1995, dot lattices).

A field of dots drifts for a moment; most move together while a few dart off. Sense the overall flow.

Practises

Global motion integration (common fate).

Carry it with you

Take in where a whole scene is moving rather than chasing the few fast standouts.

The research

The visual system integrates many local motions into one global direction (Wertheimer, 1923, common fate; Newsome & Paré, 1988, motion-coherence).

A pattern flashes up. Read its whole balance — mirrored left–right, top–bottom, or not at all.

Practises

Holistic symmetry perception.

Carry it with you

Register the overall shape and balance of a space before any single detail leads you.

The research

Bilateral (mirror) symmetry is detected rapidly and holistically (Wagemans, 1997; Bertamini, Silvanto, Norcia, Makin & Wagemans, 2018).

A scatter of coloured dots appears. Sense the group's overall colour, not the one odd shade.

Practises

Ensemble perception of colour.

Carry it with you

Read the overall palette of a scene before one bright spot draws you.

The research

People rapidly extract the average hue of a set of colours (Maule & Franklin, 2016; Webster, Kay & Webster, 2014).

A field of dots flashes, some dim and some bright. Sense the overall brightness.

Practises

Ensemble perception of brightness.

Carry it with you

Take in the overall light of a space before one glowing point grabs you.

The research

People average the brightness of a set of items at a glance (Bauer, 2009).

A set of lines flashes by, some short and some long. Sense the overall length.

Practises

Ensemble perception of length.

Carry it with you

Read the overall scale of things at once instead of fixing on the one long line.

The research

The average length of a set is extracted rapidly and accurately even when single items are not (Ariely, 2001; Chong & Treisman, 2003).

A field of patches flashes, some crisp and some soft. Sense its overall focus.

Practises

Coarse-to-fine (global-first) processing.

Carry it with you

Settle into a soft, whole-field read before any one sharp detail pulls you in.

The research

The visual system reads the low-detail global gist first, before fine detail (Schyns & Oliva, 1994; Hughes et al., 1996).

A ring of dots sketches a shape without drawing it. Let the whole shape come together.

Practises

Gestalt closure.

Carry it with you

Let whole shapes and forms assemble themselves before you trace any single edge.

The research

The visual system completes a whole figure from incomplete contours (Wertheimer, 1923; Kanizsa, 1979).

A cloud of paired dots flashes up. Together they swirl, burst, or stream — sense the whole pattern's flow.

Practises

Global form integration (Glass patterns).

Carry it with you

See the overall pattern emerge without inspecting a single pair.

The research

Paired dots (Glass patterns) are pooled into a whole percept — concentric, radial, or translational (Glass, 1969; Wilson & Wilkinson, 1998).

A handful of moving dots traces a figure in motion. Sense which way it's heading.

Practises

Biological-motion perception.

Carry it with you

Read a whole moving figure and its direction without tracking any single point.

The research

A few point-lights are integrated into a vivid whole figure and its motion (Johansson, 1973; Blake & Shiffrar, 2007).

A field of dots drifts, some quick and some slow. Sense its overall pace.

Practises

Ensemble perception of speed.

Carry it with you

Take in how fast a whole field is moving rather than chasing the fastest mover.

The research

People average the speed of many moving items at a glance (Watamaniuk & Duchon, 1992).

Keep a soft central gaze; a mark flashes out toward the edges. Sense where it appeared.

Practises

A wide, useful field of view.

Carry it with you

Spread your awareness to the edges of vision rather than tunnelling on the centre.

The research

The useful field of view can widen with practice, though how far the benefits transfer to everyday tasks is debated (Ball & Owsley, 1993; Green & Bavelier, 2003).

A scene flashes for a heartbeat. Sense what kind of place it is — don't hunt for objects.

Practises

Rapid scene-gist perception.

Carry it with you

Grasp the whole character of a place before naming a single thing in it.

The research

The overall meaning of a scene is grasped within a single glance, before objects are identified (Potter, 1976; Greene & Oliva, 2009).

A group of eyes glances different ways. Sense where, on the whole, they're looking.

Practises

Ensemble perception of gaze.

Carry it with you

Sense a group's shared direction of attention without studying one face.

The research

Viewers can extract the average gaze direction of a crowd, though this is a newer, still-developing finding (Sweeny & Whitney, 2014).

A burst of dots flashes — far too many to count in time. Let a rough number land.

Practises

Numerosity estimation.

Carry it with you

Let an approximate quantity arrive without counting one by one.

The research

Beyond about four items, people estimate quantity approximately rather than counting (Kaufman et al., 1949; Dehaene, The Number Sense, 2011).

A grid of two kinds of marks flashes up. Let likeness pull them into rows, columns, or diagonals.

Practises

Gestalt grouping by similarity.

Carry it with you

Let similar things fall into groups on their own before you single any out.

The research

Like elements organise into a whole pattern (Wertheimer, 1923, grouping by similarity).

A winding path of aligned marks hides in a field of random ones. Let the whole contour pop out, and sense which way it bends.

Practises

Contour integration (good continuation).

Carry it with you

Let a whole path emerge from noise rather than tracing it mark by mark.

The research

Aligned elements are linked into a whole path by good continuation (Field, Hayes & Hess, 1993; Wertheimer, 1923).

A field of shaded bumps and dimples flashes up. Read the whole at once — popping out, or pressed in?

Practises

Shape-from-shading.

Carry it with you

Read a whole field's depth and light before one odd shading misleads you.

The research

The visual system reads depth from shading, assuming light comes from above (Ramachandran, 1988; Kleffner & Ramachandran, 1992).

A scatter of shapes flashes, some round and some spiky. Sense the group's overall character.

Practises

Ensemble perception of shape.

Carry it with you

Read the overall character of a group of shapes without studying one odd form.

The research

Averaging shape across a set extends ensemble coding to form; it is a newer, still-developing line of research (Haberman & Whitney, 2012, review).

A scatter of rectangles flashes, some tall and some wide. Sense the group's overall proportion.

Practises

Ensemble perception of aspect ratio.

Carry it with you

Sense the overall proportions of a space rather than fixing on one extreme.

The research

Averaging aspect ratio extends ensemble coding to shape proportion; a newer, still-developing finding (Haberman & Whitney, 2012, review).

A single shape pulses, changing size moment to moment. Sense the average of the whole stream.

Practises

Temporal ensemble perception.

Carry it with you

Sense the overall feel of a stream over time rather than latching onto the latest moment.

The research

People can average a feature over a sequence presented across time; a newer, still-developing finding (Albrecht & Scholl, 2010).

A grid of dots flashes up, some joined by faint links. Let the links group the field — rows, columns, or diagonals.

Practises

Gestalt grouping by connectedness.

Carry it with you

Follow how things are quietly connected before you single any one out.

The research

A connecting line is a powerful grouping cue, often overriding proximity (Palmer & Rock, 1994, uniform connectedness).

A shape flashes off to the side, hemmed in by clutter. Keep a soft central gaze and read which way it points.

Practises

Reading the gist amid flankers (crowding).

Carry it with you

Keep an open, steady span of attention so a shape stays readable amid clutter.

The research

Clutter impairs recognition of a peripheral target (crowding); how much practice reduces it, and how far that transfers, is actively studied (Bouma, 1970; Whitney & Levi, 2011).