Longsightedness. Artwork of a section through the human eye demonstrating longsightedness. In longsightedness or hyperopia close objects are seen blurred. In normal vision, light rays from the flower at right would be projected onto the light-sensitive retina (thin, yellow) at the back of the eye. Here the image has only come into focus beyond the retina. This means that the image on the retina will be out of focus (blurred). The image is inverted but is interpreted the right way up by the brain. Longsightedness is caused by a lack of symmetry in the eyeball shape or a fault in focusing by the lens (oval, centre).