foveate

Foveate is a verb meaning to direct one's gaze toward a point of interest or to fixate so that the fovea centralis, the small, high-acuity region of the retina, is focused on the stimulus.

In vision science, foveation describes the act or process by which the eyes move to place the stimulus on the fovea, typically via saccadic eye movements or smooth pursuit. The fovea contains a high density of cone photoreceptors and provides the sharpest vision; consequently, the perceptual system alternates between fast eye movements and brief fixations to build a detailed image while peripheral vision remains relatively coarse.

In technology and display research, foveation refers to foveated rendering or related techniques where rendering quality is highest near the gaze point and reduced in the periphery. Eye-tracking enables gaze-contingent rendering, used especially in virtual reality and augmented reality to lower computational load while preserving perceived detail in the user’s central vision.

Etymology notes that the term derives from fovea centralis, from Latin fovea meaning “pit,” reflecting the retina’s anatomical focus of attention.

See also fixation, saccade, fovea, gaze tracking, and foveated rendering.