The newborn's brain is amazingly complex, yet it is still very much open to modulation as new stimuli are experienced. This leads to new neural connections and forms the basis of learning. Research has demonstrated that the first year of life is crucial to brain growth and development. It is therefore useful to present an adequate amount of high quality stimuli to infants during these early months.
Visual stimulation is a major form of input. This will occur naturally as the infant explores the environment. It can also be artificially presented. Black and white contrast images have been shown to catch the attention of infants. It seems that the important issue is contrast polarity. Infants are apparently drawn to differences between light and dark areas. This would explain why it is that black and white images (representing the extremes of light and dark) have them so captivated. Over time, there is also a natural progression. Stimulation appears to foster a desire for more stimulation leading to a cycle of continued engagement and subsequent development.
This knowledge has been used to develop various products aimed at generating appropriate stimuli for infants. By involving them in the stimulus, it is thought that their development will be enhanced that much more. For example, instead of just presenting a stationary image, transform the image into a sort of toy, maximizing their attention.
This approach has also been used to aid some infants that are visually impaired. This may result from defects in the visual apparatus or because the infant has not learned to use the information that is visually presented, to guide their own behaviour. In these latter cases, visual stimulation can enhance the visual attentiveness of the infant especially if the infant is allowed to experience the consequences of utilizing the input.

References
http://www.icevi.org/publications/ICEVI-WC2002/pap ers/13-topic/13-cziker.htm
http://www.babyscapes.com/guide.html
http://www.pnas.org/cgi/content/abstract/102/47/17 245

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