I present an approach to the problems of perception that explicitly considers the material basis of the perceptual information picked up by active agents. Taking into account the reservoir of information external to the perceiver makes it possible to study activity before sensory signals have been aroused by stimuli, an activity that orients the organs of perception and explores for the external information. Drawing on J. J. Gibsonʼs ecological approach and the recent discussions on reservoir computing, I illustrate how the consideration of the material basis of potentially informative patterns could fundamentally change the traditional theories on perception.
