EyeXplore AR
Discover the world inside your eye.
Drag to turn Β· pinch or scroll to zoom Β· tap a part to learn about it
Hold a 3D eye in your hands and discover what lies inside. Turn it, cut it in half, tap each part to learn what it does, and follow light on its journey to the retina. On supported phones you can place the eye in your room with augmented reality (AR).
All parts
Cornea
What it is: The clear, dome-shaped window at the very front of your eye.
What does it do? Bends (focuses) incoming light. It does about two-thirds of the eye's focusing.
Did you know? The cornea has no blood vessels. It gets oxygen straight from the air and from the tears.
Conjunctiva
What it is: A thin, clear skin covering the white of the eye and the inside of the eyelids.
What does it do? Protects the eye and helps keep it moist. When it is inflamed you get 'pink eye' (conjunctivitis).
Did you know? The tiny red lines you can see on the white of your eye are blood vessels in the conjunctiva.
Sclera
What it is: The tough white outer wall of the eye.
What does it do? Protects the inside of the eye and keeps its round shape. The eye muscles attach to it.
Did you know? The sclera is made of tightly packed collagen, the same family of protein found in tendons.
Iris
What it is: The coloured ring of muscle behind the cornea.
What does it do? Opens and closes the pupil to control how much light gets in, like a camera's aperture.
Did you know? Your iris pattern is unique to you, so it can be used like a fingerprint.
Pupil
What it is: The black hole in the centre of the iris.
What does it do? Lets light into the eye. It gets smaller in bright light and bigger in the dark.
Did you know? The pupil looks black because light goes in and very little comes back out.
Lens
What it is: A clear, flexible disc behind the iris.
What does it do? Fine-tunes the focus. It changes shape so you can see both far and near.
Did you know? When the lens turns cloudy with age, this is called a cataract (in Brunei Malay, utik).
Ciliary body
What it is: A ring of muscle and tissue just behind the iris.
What does it do? Its muscle changes the shape of the lens for near vision, and it makes the aqueous fluid.
Did you know? Tiny threads called zonules hang the lens from the ciliary body, like a trampoline on springs.
Aqueous humour
What it is: A clear, watery fluid filling the space between the cornea and the lens.
What does it do? Feeds the cornea and lens and keeps the right pressure inside the eye.
Did you know? It is made and drained all the time. If it drains too slowly, eye pressure can rise, which can lead to glaucoma.
Vitreous humour
What it is: A clear, gel-like substance filling most of the space inside your eye.
What does it do? Helps keep the eye's shape and lets light travel through to the retina.
Did you know? With age the gel slowly turns more liquid. Clumps can cast shadows called floaters.
Retina
What it is: A thin, light-sensitive layer lining the back of the eye, like the film in a camera.
What does it do? Its cells (rods and cones) turn light into electrical signals for the brain.
Did you know? The retina is actually part of the brain that grows out into the eye before you are born.
Macula
What it is: A small area in the centre of the retina.
What does it do? Gives sharp, detailed central vision for reading, faces and colour.
Did you know? Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) affects this area, so central vision blurs while side vision stays.
Fovea
What it is: A tiny dip in the middle of the macula.
What does it do? The sharpest point of your vision. It is packed with cone cells.
Did you know? When you look straight at something, your eye lines it up with the fovea.
Optic disc
What it is: The round spot where the optic nerve leaves the eye.
What does it do? Carries all the nerve fibres and the main blood vessels in and out of the eye.
Did you know? It has no light-sensing cells, so it makes a small blind spot. Your brain fills it in, so you do not notice.
Optic nerve
What it is: A cable of over a million nerve fibres at the back of the eye.
What does it do? Carries signals from the retina to the brain, which turns them into what you see.
Did you know? Glaucoma slowly damages this nerve, often without any early symptoms. Regular eye checks find it.
Choroid
What it is: A layer full of blood vessels between the retina and the sclera.
What does it do? Brings oxygen and nourishment to the outer retina.
Did you know? The choroid has one of the highest blood flows of any tissue in the body.
Eye muscles
What it is: Six small muscles on the outside of each eye (the four straight ones are shown).
What does it do? Move the eye up, down and side to side, and keep both eyes pointing together.
Did you know? If these muscles or their nerves do not work together, the eyes can squint or you may see double.
This is a simplified model for learning. It cannot check or diagnose your own eyes.