Paroptic Vision: What the Term Means and Where It Comes From

A woman's hands resting on a wooden desk, fingertips lightly touching a small fan of red, blue, yellow and green cards beside an open book and a brass lamp

By the author · November 4, 2026

Paroptic vision is an old term for the claimed ability to perceive without using the eyes. It appears in the subtitle of a 1924 book, it is used in parapsychology reference works, and it is often confused with a related term, dermo-optical perception. This short guide explains what each word means, where it comes from, and what researchers have and have not found. It sits beside our complete guide to closed-eye vision.

In short

  • Paroptic vision is one of several names for perceiving without the eyes. It is also called eyeless sight or extra-retinal vision.
  • The word was made known by the English edition (1924) of Jules Romains’s book Eyeless Sight: A Study of Extra-Retinal Vision and the Paroptic Sense.
  • Dermo-optical perception is a narrower claim: telling colors by touch, without seeing them.
  • The evidence is mixed. Some tests found nothing, some reported results above chance, and skeptics point to imperfect blindfolds.
  • It is not the same as the ordinary things you see with your eyes closed, such as phosphenes and eigengrau.

What does “paroptic” mean?

The prefix para- means “beside” or “beyond”, and optic relates to sight. Paroptic vision therefore means, roughly, sight that is beside or beyond the ordinary eye. In practice the word is used for reports of perceiving objects, colors or print while the eyes are covered. Some reference works use “paroptic perception” for perceiving things at a distance, and keep “dermo-optical perception” for perceiving by touch.

Where the word comes from

Jules Romains, the pen name of the French writer Louis Farigoule, published Vision extra-rétinienne in 1920. The English translation of 1924 was titled Eyeless Sight: A Study of Extra-Retinal Vision and the Paroptic Sense, and that title carried both “eyeless sight” and “paroptic” into English. The book was poorly received by his colleagues, and Romains later returned to literature.

Reports of colors told apart without sight are much older. In the seventeenth century Robert Boyle cited a physician’s account of a blind man who could distinguish colors by touch, and in 1726 Jonathan Swift gave a blind man the same talent in Gulliver’s Travels.

Dermo-optical perception: a narrower claim

Dermo-optical perception, often shortened to DOP, is the apparent ability to tell an object’s color by touch, without visual access to it. It became an established term in the early 1960s, after the Soviet neurologist I. M. Gol’dberg reported experiments with Rosa Kuleshova, a woman said to discern colors by “feeling” them. Soviet laboratories reported further experiments in “eyeless vision” in 1964. The term has been criticized as inapt, since nobody sees with the fingertips.

Paroptic vision is the wider idea. DOP is one specific claim inside it.

What did the tests find?

The honest answer is that the record is mixed.

  • Null results. Several controlled studies found no ability, among them Buckhout (1965), Benski and colleagues (1998) and Shiah (2008).
  • Results above chance. Others reported accurate color identification, among them Makous (1966), Nash (1971) and Duplessis (1985). Makous proposed that the fingers were sensing differences in heat, and found some support for this.
  • The skeptical view. In 1966 the writer Martin Gardner argued that apparent successes came from badly fitting blindfolds and a glance past the nose. Other researchers challenged his account, but skeptics still cite it.

One lesson is shared by every side: the quality of the covering is decisive. A claim cannot be judged unless the eyes are truly sealed from light. This is why we wrote about what to check in a blindfold or mask.

Other names for the same family of ideas

  • Eyeless sight
  • Extra-retinal vision (“beyond the retina”)
  • Dermo-optical perception, or skin vision
  • Blindfold vision and closed-eye vision, the terms most people use today

These names are not all interchangeable, and the research behind them differs in quality. Treat them as labels for reports to examine, not as settled facts.

Frequently asked questions

What is paroptic vision?

It is an older name for perceiving without the eyes, also called eyeless sight or extra-retinal vision. The word became known in English through the 1924 edition of Jules Romains’s book on the subject.

What is the difference between paroptic vision and dermo-optical perception?

Paroptic vision is the broad idea of eyeless perception. Dermo-optical perception is the narrower claim of telling colors by touch.

Is paroptic vision scientifically proven?

No. Controlled studies are mixed: some found no effect and some reported results above chance. Skeptics argue that imperfect blindfolds explain apparent successes, so the question remains open and contested.

Who coined the word paroptic?

The sources we reviewed do not name who coined it. It appears in the subtitle of the English edition (1924) of Romains’s Eyeless Sight, which is how it entered English.

Is it the same as seeing colors with your eyes closed?

No. The colors and patterns you see when you close your eyes, such as phosphenes, come from the eye and brain themselves. Paroptic vision refers to perceiving something outside. Read more in what you see when you close your eyes.

Where can I learn more about closed-eye vision?

Start with the complete guide, the glossary, or the Seeing Beyond Matter kit.

Keep exploring

Sources

This article is for general education. It reports historical claims and research, and makes no medical claims.