The Screenless Sight Codex

Scenario Index

This index collects the encyclopedia’s proposed routes from normal display technology through speculative perception and memory concepts.

How To Read A Scenario

Each scenario should be judged by seven questions:

Question Why It Matters
Where does the signal enter? Screen, eye, retina, optic nerve, cortex, or memory systems are very different targets.
What carries the signal? Electrons, photons, current, magnetic fields, RF, ultrasound, sound, and touch behave differently.
What is the transducer? Every serious proposal needs a conversion mechanism.
How is it addressed? A visual system needs spatial or semantic targeting, not just stimulation.
What does the user perceive? Phosphene, cue, symbol, shape, scene, label, or memory prompt.
What is the evidence level? Established, research, prototype, speculative, or frontier.
What middle layer is removed? Screen, pixel grid, frame stream, photorealism, passive viewing, or universal mapping may not be necessary.

Speculative and frontier scenarios are encouraged. Those labels are not rejections; they mean the page should include a “what would make this testable?” section.

Scenario Table

ID Title Status Interface Point Core Idea
01 Electron-To-Phosphor CRT Established External screen A steered electron beam scans phosphor.
02 Gas-To-Phosphor Plasma Display Established External screen Gas discharge and UV excite phosphor.
03 Liquid-Crystal Light Valve Established External screen Liquid crystals modulate a backlight.
04 Self-Emissive OLED Established External screen Organic materials emit light directly.
05 MicroLED Photon Array Established External screen Microscopic LEDs form a dense emitter field.
06 Retinal Projection Research Eye/retina Optics project images onto the retina.
07 Retinal Scanner Research Eye/retina A scanned beam paints the retina.
08 Retinal Waveguide Prototype Eye/retina Wearable optics route display light into the eye.
09 Retinal Holograph Speculative Eye/retina Phase-controlled light forms structured retinal patterns.
10 Virtual Phosphor Speculative Transducer layer A temporary conversion layer replaces a fixed screen.
11 Photoreceptor Interface Research Retina Input targets natural or restored light-sensitive cells.
12 Electronic Retina Research Retina Electrodes stimulate surviving retinal neurons.
13 Optogenetic Retina Research Retina Engineered cells respond to light patterns.
14 Ganglion-Cell Encoder Speculative Retina output Stimulation targets retinal output coding.
15 Optic-Nerve Interface Research/speculative Optic nerve Visual data enters after the retina.
16 Cortical Phosphor Research Visual cortex Cortex becomes the stimulation target.
17 V1 Neural Display Research V1 Retinotopic cortex acts as a crude display field.
18 Cortical Form Tracing Research Visual cortex Dynamic stimulation traces shapes.
19 Feature-Space Display Speculative Visual cortex Input encodes features instead of pixels.
20 Object-Space Display Speculative Higher vision Input encodes recognized objects.
21 Scene-Space Display Speculative Higher vision Input encodes layout and salience.
22 Electrical-To-Neural Research Neural tissue Electrodes deliver local stimulation.
23 Optical-To-Neural Research Light-sensitive tissue Light drives natural or engineered cells.
24 Magnetic Phosphene System Research Visual cortex Time-varying magnetic fields evoke visual sensations.
25 Spatial Magnetic Array Speculative Neural tissue Multiple fields attempt spatial targeting.
26 RF-To-Transducer-To-Neural Speculative Local receiver RF powers or commands a local converter.
27 Focused-Ultrasound Vision Interface Research Visual cortex Acoustic focus modulates visual regions.
28 Acoustic Hologram Speculative Neural tissue Interference patterns create spatial acoustic stimulation.
29 RF-Powered Local Transducer Speculative Implanted receiver A local device converts wireless energy into safe output.
30 Magnetic-To-Local Conversion Speculative Implanted converter Magnetic influence is converted locally into another signal.
31 Perceptual Compression Display Speculative Perception Only task-relevant visual features are sent.
32 Predictive-Coding Display Speculative Perception Cues nudge prediction instead of rendering everything.
33 Neural Texture Engine Speculative Perception Surface, motion, or texture percepts are evoked.
34 Semantic Visual Interface Speculative Cognition/perception Meaning is transmitted instead of photoreal imagery.
35 Brain-As-Renderer Frontier Whole perceptual system Sparse cues rely on the brain to reconstruct a scene.
36 AI Scene Compressor Prototype Assistive interface Computer vision selects the most useful cues.
37 Scene Skeleton Speculative Assistive interface The world is represented as a sparse spatial graph.
38 Depth-First Vision Prototype Assistive interface Depth and collision risk outrank color and texture.
39 Phosphene Font Research/speculative Retina/cortex A learned alphabet of light-like symbols.
40 Audio-Visual Substitution Research Hearing Visual data becomes sound.
41 Tactile-Visual Substitution Research Touch Visual data becomes pressure or vibration.
42 Multisensory Display Speculative Multiple senses Different channels carry different scene features.
43 Cross-Modal HUD Prototype Wearable senses Visual, audio, and tactile cues form one interface.
44 Virtual Cane Display Prototype Wearable senses Near-field obstacles become simple cues.
45 Neural Scanning Interface Speculative Retina/cortex A neural target is scanned over time.
46 Temporal Multiplexing Speculative Neural tissue One channel updates many perceptual sites sequentially.
47 Spike-Timing Display Speculative Neural code Fine timing carries information.
48 Population-Code Display Speculative Neural population Distributed activation patterns carry information.
49 Oscillatory Display Speculative Brain rhythms Phase or rhythm becomes part of encoding.
50 Event-Based Vision Stream Prototype Assistive/neural interface Only changes and motion updates are transmitted.
51 Cortical Shape Tracing Research Visual cortex Sequential cortical stimulation creates form percepts.
52 Percept-To-Memory Established concept Memory formation Experience can become memory through normal cognition.
53 Memory Cue Interface Research concept Recall support Cues help reconstruct memories.
54 Associative Reconstruction Research concept Recall support Memory is rebuilt from fragments and context.
55 Dream Rehearsal Notebook Prototype Voluntary recall Images and narration strengthen later recall.
56 Memory-State Interface Frontier Memory systems Rich direct memory writing is not established, but the concept can be decomposed.
57 Conceptual Injection Frontier Memory systems Remote arbitrary memory insertion is a far-edge idea for testing assumptions.

Expansion Priorities

  1. Turn each row into its own scenario page.
  2. Start with scenarios that have strong research footing: retinal prosthesis, optogenetic retina, cortical form tracing, focused ultrasound, and sensory substitution.
  3. Add speculative pages freely, but make the missing mechanism explicit.
  4. Give every page a “what would make this more real?” section.
  5. For far-future ideas, include a toy model, analogy, or non-human/non-clinical way to reason about the concept without pretending it is deployable.
  6. Prioritize scenarios that make perception the medium: cue languages, project tracks, active scanning, personal percept maps, and semantic compression.

Scenario Page Template

# Scenario ID. Title

- Status:
- Interface point:
- Carrier:
- Transducer:
- Encoding style:
- Addressing method:
- Expected percept:
- Evidence level:
- Main limitations:
- Safety and ethics:
- Sources:

## Summary

## Chain Map

## Existing Evidence

## Engineering Workarounds

## Open Questions

## Expansion Notes