Neurons encoding simple visual features in area VI such as orientation, direction of motion and color are organized in retinotopic maps. How(cid:173) ever, recent physiological experiments have shown that the responses of many neurons in VI and other cortical areas are modulated by the di(cid:173) rection of gaze. We have developed a neural network model of the visual cortex to explore the hypothesis that visual features are encoded in head(cid:173) centered coordinates at early stages of visual processing. New experiments are suggested for testing this hypothesis using electrical stimulations and psychophysical observations.