UAB Researcher Aims to Build a Better Gunsight

[ericire12]

http://www.azooptics.com/details.asp?newsID=6014

A University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) Vision Science Research Center investigator who also is an expert marksman has found a more intuitive way to aim a pistol.

Associate Professor Timothy Kraft, Ph.D., has developed a new gunsight design that relies on subconscious ability. Opti-sight, a UAB-protected innovation, updates a pistol-aiming device that has remained unchanged for more than a century. Opti-sight promises to reduce the time law enforcement, professional and amateur shooters need for target practice to improve marksmanship.

Opti-sight is a precision-milled half-triangle shape that replaces the traditional pistol gunsight. The design relies on subjective contours, an optics principle that explains how the subconscious mind fills in the blanks when the eye sees half of a familiar shape like a circle, square or triangle, Kraft says.

The rear opti-sight notch looks like an incomplete triangle sitting atop the gun barrel. When a shooter looks through the notch, the brain tells the eye where the missing triangle apex should appear, and that apex is the precise point of aim, Kraft says. “This triangular shape that I’ve created allows the brain to visualize concentric triangles whose imaginary apexes focus the shooter’s attention on the exact target bullseye.

Video here and slide show with pics:
http://www.uab.edu/uabmagazine/2009/november/gunsight














*The Huffington Post picked up this story as well.... I assume that it was probably an automated publish on their website.... this is what picture they used to go along with the story:


http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/12/11/optisight-new-device-make_n_388935.html
**No surprise there

[tombogan03884]

 Sounds like an interesting concept. I'm curious to here what folks like MB or Todd Jarret have to say about it.

[Rob Pincus]

The science is spot on.  The problem is that clinical scientific facts don't always result in practical applications when placed into the context of the real world.

One look at the contraption the shooter is wearing on his head and the design of the pistol they choose to "test" the theoretical new sight on and you can see that the experiment is not designed with EFFICIENCY as the end result, yet it is the foundation of the argument to use a more intuitive sight. Building a "better" mousetrap that doesn't actually catch more mice isn't a breakthrough.

-RJP

[JdePietro]

I could be totally wrong and just not understanding the concept, but I do believe this or something very close has been done by styer.
http://www.steyr-aug.com/m_series_pistols.htm

It looks like the same concept to me...

[ericire12]

I could be totally wrong and just not understanding the concept, but I do believe this or something very close has been done by styer.
http://www.steyr-aug.com/m_series_pistols.htm

It looks like the same concept to me...

It sure does

[Sponsor]