Infravision

From Mizahar Lore

Infravision is the ability which Akalaks an other creatures have to see in the infrared spectrum of light.

There are only two common ways a living creature can physically see something in the world with their eyes. The first is to have an object that emits light in the visible spectrum. The second is to have an object near a light source reflect light from that light source. The light from this first type of light-emitting object then enters your eye and your brain interprets it. Think of a candle or a lantern as an example.

The other more common type of reflective object does not emit visible light from the color spectrum though they will give off infrared light. All objects give off infrared light. Instead, to see these objects you need a nearby light source. The light from these sources reflects off the object and then the light enters your eye. Without the light source, there is no light to enter your eye and you can’t see it. Because most objects don't emit 'visible' light, that doesn't mean you can't see them. It just happens that the light emitted from most objects is not visible to the human(or most sentient creatures) eyes in the visible spectrum.

Detailed Summary

Because most objects contain heat of some sort, Infravision is a brilliant solution to low light or no light vision. Either object are the temperature of the room/immediate area or hotter or colder in comparison. Since all objects give off heat, all objects are visible in the infrared. Why? When objects get hotter, they do two things. First, they emit more light (higher intensity) and second the produce light with a shorter wavelength. Red is the longest wavelength in the visible spectrum (and blue-violet is the shortest visible wavelength). This implies that the much cooler items should be emitting light with a wavelength longer than red light. We call this light infrared.

Hotter items will read more red in Infravision while cooler items will read more towards blue and violet.

Advantages & Limitations

With infrared vision, you loose detail in favor of temperature profiles. Infrared varies from Nightvision in that Nightvision lets a creature see at low light as if they were in normal light and retains details. Infravision's strength lies in detecting warmer things that would be normally camouflaged or invisible in normal light. Infravision can also detect places people or animals have touched/rested/or walked by displaying hand prints, footprints, paw prints, and even impressions of their resting bodies for a time period after they have gone. The time period usually equates to the length of time it takes the surface to return to a normal surrounding temperature after the person or creature has moved on.