looking at vs perception

looking at and perception both are nouns.

Word	Noun	Adjective	Verb	Adverb
looking at	Yes	No	No	No
perception	Yes	No	No	No

As nouns, perception is a hypernym of looking at; that is, perception is a word with a broader meaning than looking at:

looking at: the act of directing the eyes toward something and perceiving it visually; look
perception: becoming aware of something via the senses

Other hypernyms of looking at include sensing.

looking at (noun)	perception (noun)
the act of directing the eyes toward something and perceiving it visually; look	becoming aware of something via the senses
	the process of perceiving
	the representation of what is perceived; basic component in the formation of a concept
	a way of conceiving something
	knowledge gained by perceiving