Saccadic Masking

Layer 03 // Optics

The human eye does not pan smoothly. It jumps rapidly from point to point in movements called saccades. During these jumps (which last ~20-200ms), the brain effectively pauses visual processing to prevent motion blur—a phenomenon known as saccadic masking.

Exploiting the Blind Spot

By timing minor UI state changes (like swapping a loading skeleton for final content) to occur within 50-100ms, the interface can update while the user's eye is moving, making the load feel instantaneous.

Saccadic Timer Tool