Dr. Marty Banks Elected to the National Academy of Sciences

Berkeley optometry and vision science professor Martin Banks has been elected to the National Academy of Sciences. Dr. Banks is one of 100 new members elected for their “distinguished and continuing achievements in original research.”

Those elected bring the total number of active members to 2,347 and the total number of foreign associates to 487. Foreign associates are nonvoting members of the Academy, with citizenship outside the United States.

This is a great honor for Dr. Banks, the School of Optometry and Berkeley. Congratulations!

Professor Banks and his lab are interested in determining how efficiently human observers utilize the available stimulus information while performing perceptual tasks and also in applying the results to emerging technologies such as virtual reality. His research involves three topics: (1) the use of motion and stereoscopic information to determine the spatial layout of the visible environment and one’s motion through that environment; (2) the combination of information from more than one sense modality (e.g., vision and touch); and (3) the construction and evaluation of devices for creating useful virtual environments (e.g., vision, vestibular and touch).

The National Academy of Sciences is a private, nonprofit institution that was established under a congressional charter signed by President Abraham Lincoln in 1863. It recognizes achievement in science by election to membership, and - with the National Academy of Engineering and the National Academy of Medicine - provides science, engineering and health policy advice to the federal government and other organizations.