sensesseeing

sensesseeing is a term used to describe an integrated perceptual process that foregrounds the role of vision within multisensory perception. It refers to how visual information is bound with signals from other senses—such as hearing, touch, and proprioception—to produce a coherent understanding of the environment. While not widely adopted in mainstream psychology, sensesseeing appears in discussions about perception, cognition, and sensory augmentation as a way to emphasize that seeing is inseparable from other sensory inputs.

The term blends senses and seeing to signal that perception is not a vision-only event but an interaction among modalities. In theoretical accounts, sensesseeing aligns with multisensory integration and predictive coding, whereby the brain combines sensory streams and uses expectations to resolve ambiguity in visual scenes.

Practically, the concept is used to frame research on how learners and users interpret visual displays in contexts rich with concurrent sensory cues. It also informs design and evaluation of technologies that extend or substitute sight, such as augmented reality, tactile or auditory display systems, and other forms of sensory augmentation that influence what users perceive visually.

Critics note that sensesseeing can be vague without precise definition and may overlap with established terms like multisensory integration, perceptual binding, or sensorimotor coupling. Proponents argue that it helps foreground the active, embodied nature of perception and the inseparability of seeing from other senses.

See also: multisensory integration, perceptual binding, predictive coding, sensory augmentation.