This chapter reviews the features of the visual and oculomotor systems that are particularly important for understanding active vision. First, the chapter describes the inhomogeneity of the visual projections and the consequences of the resulting inhomogeneity on visual abilities. Human vision has a high resolution fovea at the centre and visual ability falling off quickly into peripheral vision. Second, the evidence for multiple types of parallel processing within the visual and oculomotor system is reviewed. Third, the basic characteristics of the oculomotor system are described and different types of eye movement are identified, followed by a more detailed description of saccadic eye movements: the fast ballistic eye movements that move the fovea to point at regions of interest.
Keywords: visual system, oculomotor system, fovea, peripheral vision, parallel processing, eye movement, saccades