Types of CBS Images

Images can be simple such as a color, or pattern, and often a spiderweb. More complex images can be people, animals, vehicles, plants, buildings, or combinations of these. Single words or a block of text has been reported. The images appear to persons with low vision and those with no light perception.

Images are generated in the brain based on visual memories that the person has accumulated over their lifetime. CBS images are not optical illusions where your brain can’t quite understand what it is looking at.

People in CBS images

People seen in CBS images can be familiar to you.  They can include deceased loved ones, and those who are currently living.  People seen will be behaving as if they were real, blended with what you can actually see, or know to be there.  Real people (and objects) seen by those with low vision may be altered by CBS and appear to be moving. They may appear to be interacting with objects, but this too is a CBS phenomenon.

They will usually inhabit space just like a real person and do what a real person would do in your environment.  They are sitting on furniture or standing in spaces where the whole body would fit. They can do anything that a person could do. They may appear to walk through walls or fly.

CBS people may react to you in a typical way.  Sometimes they leave when the person with CBS tells them to leave.  They may gesture and move their mouths as if they are speaking to you or to each other.  Some people with CBS will think the person is speaking too softly to hear clearly.  It is possible that the person with CBS decides what they are saying at that time. Ambient noise in the environment may cause the person to believe they have heard speech.

People may be distorted with some features exaggerated such as teeth, nose, ears, eyes and so on.  They may be missing features such as a whole head, a face, or feet. Cartoon are often reported. Lilliputians or giants are also possible.

 Seeing people wearing a uniform or costume from another time period, soldier uniforms, or native costumes is common.

Text in CBS

Words may appear on walls or other surfaces. There may be a single word, a name, or several paragraphs. Individual words can be discerned but it will be difficult to read a sentence. The words are random and have no relationship to the person although a belief that they are meaningful may arise. There have been reports of text in the form of a note to the person with CBS

360 degree CBS

Another type of complex image may be the appearance of a total environment. The person may wake up or otherwise find themselves in an unfamiliar place. This is a 360 degree image, and maybe indoors or outside, and may or may not be a place the person has seen before. This is very disorienting and can be frightening. You have not changed your location.

Using blindness skills for traveling is needed at home such as use of a white cane. It can be confusing when the person is trying to decide which objects and which settings are real. This can be a cause of falls.

Having a grounding method or object to touch is helpful in this case. Feeling for the headboard or a bedroom wall may let the person know that lets the person know they are still at home.  Even if the object cannot be seen, feeling the object can help with re-orientation. Pets are often very attuned to their owners and may make themselves known to the person.