10 optical illusions.

If we talk about observing the world around us, vision is one of the most reliable feelings. People literally need to see something in order to believe it. That is why optical illusions seem so exciting to us. They are a vivid example of the fact that sometimes you should not even trust your own eyes. They let us down despite the fact that we are literally focusing on something. They are also evidence of how complex our visual system is and what interesting aspects it carries in itself.

10. The Hering Illusion

In the figure above, it seems that the lines are curved, but in fact they are straight and parallel. The amazing thing is that perhaps we are seeing this, because we are actually looking into the future. Really.

It all comes down to how the brain perceives vision. When light hits the retina there is a delay of one tenth of a second before the brain turns this signal into visual perception. The fact is that the human brain has evolved so that it compensates for this delay. Therefore, the visual system creates an image of what will happen in one tenth of a second in the future. This ability also allows us to maneuver in the crowd or catch the ball on the fly.

How does this relate to Goering's Illusion? The image makes us think that we are moving forward, to the vanishing point of the lines in perspective. It is like a science fiction movie in which a spaceship moves at an incredible speed. It seems that he rushes into the tunnel and everything around him is deformed.

9. Ponzo Illusion


  Would you believe us if we said that the two shapes in the image on the left and the two black lines in the image on the right are the same in size? Based on the fact that you are reading the list of optical illusions, there is a chance that you will believe us, but for the sake of interest, measure them.

The illusion is caused by what is known to us as a linear perspective. It exists because we see the world in three dimensions. If the two lines converge, in the case of the image - these are walls, our brain interprets what we saw as if the lines remain parallel and extend into the distance. This is similar to when you are standing on railway tracks and watching the rails converge in the distance, although they remain parallel. Therefore, in such images as what is presented above, our brain sees an object that seems to be far away and since it is not smaller in size than it should be, being at a distance, it makes us see the second object in an exaggerated size.

8. Rotating Ballerina (Spinning Dancer)

  Anyone who has ever wandered around the internet has probably seen a spinning dancer. Usually there is a disclaimer that says that if you see a dancer rotating clockwise, it means that you have developed the right hemisphere of the brain and you are a creative person. If you see counterclockwise rotation, you have more developed left hemisphere of your brain and you are more logical person. However, this is not at all the case and the spinning dancer is by no means a psychological test. This is just an illusion called an ambiguous image. The reason why people can see it spinning in different ways is because there are no depth indicators in the image and our brain interprets it in three dimensions. In addition, there is something in our visual system that makes it possible for us to make it rotate in the opposite direction. However, scientists have not yet figured out why some people see it spinning in one direction and not in the other.

7. Pinna Illusion


  What is the design of this image? It looks like a spiral, doesn't it? But in fact, these are ideal concentric circles. If you do not believe us, swipe your fingers in circles and you will see that they are round and do not intersect with each other.

An illusion shows the difference between what the eyes see and what the brain recognizes. The visual system tries to figure out which parts are part of the same object. Therefore, people see spirals due to alternating colors. This alternation makes us think that the objects correspond to each other in color and not in shape.

6. Afterimage

If you look closely and closely at the black dot in the picture, when the black and white image appears again, you will see it in color. Pretty cool, isn't it? The reason you see the image in color lies in a phenomenon called afterimage.

In our eyes, there are three types of color receptors that are most sensitive to color, and they perceive red, blue and green. Therefore, when you look at these colors for too long, the receptors get tired. Then, when you look at the white background, tired receptors do not work so well and color receptors are not balanced. Thanks to this, you still have post-images that pass as soon as your tired receptors are reconfigured.

5. The effect of distortion of flickering faces (Flashed Face Distortion Effect)

  If you look at the blinking images above and just focus on the faces, you will notice that these are just photographs of celebrities and they are not unusual. However, if you focus on the cross in the center and look at the photographs with your peripheral vision, you will notice that the photographs look caricatured. Foreheads become bulging, eyes become much more creepy, and noses are huge.

The illusion, known as the distortion effect of flickering faces, was discovered by chance. An undergraduate first noticed the effect when he quickly looked at images on a computer. The researchers then found that if you concentrate your eyes and look at the images very quickly, the difference will become even more noticeable. A notable change is that this effect exaggerates facial features. For example, if one person has a large forehead, then it seems even larger in the picture. Researchers are currently searching for an answer to the question of what might cause this strange phenomenon.

4. Illusory Motion


In the picture above nothing moves. This is not an animated GIF or video. This is just an illusion that makes us think that we are seeing a movement known as an illusory movement. While motion is a common optical illusion, no one knows what caused the deception of our eyes. Some researchers believe that involuntary eye movements make objects that you look at without looking up, look moving. Another possible reason is that this illusion is triggered by motion detectors in the visual cortex of our brain. When you look around the picture, the detectors get confused due to the constant changes in the image, so your brain thinks that it sees movement.

3. Disappearing circles (Lilac Chaser)

  In this fascinating illusion, peer at the cross in the center of the image. After a few seconds, you will begin to notice a green dot moving in a circle that seems to eat up purple dots. But if you look away and look at the image again, you will see that the purple dots are still in place.

An empty spot turns green due to the fact that the purple dots oversaturated your retina. Thus, when the violet color fades, you see green because it is a complementary color. In fact, it is a white light without a violet color. The disappearance of points, apparently, is because our visual neurons have the ability to turn off their perception of objects that do not change. Instead, we focus on things that change, so we just follow our eyes to the empty space, because this is the only thing that changes. This is similar to how a bug sits on your hand - if it sits motionless, you don’t feel anything, if it starts to crawl, you immediately feel it.

2. Thatcher Illusions

  As shown above, there are two photographs of the same man. When you look at flipped photos, they look completely normal. But if you turn them into a normal position, you will notice that the facial features of the man on the left are inverted. This strange aspect of our visual recognition system is called the Thatcher effect, because it was first demonstrated in a 1980 Margaret Thatcher photograph.

There are a number of assumptions as to why this is happening. The first is that people may have problems recognizing inverted images and the brain is trying to fix it. The second possible explanation is that when people look at something, they need to navigate in terms of the correct location of the subject. Another assumption is that we see the face as a whole, so when the whole face turns over, we still see the face in it. There is also a belief that this effect in no way affects individuals. According to this theory, the effect can be simply explained by the fact that we are used to seeing things with the right side up.

1. Color constancy (Color Constancy)


  Looking at the image above, what color are the squares A and B? They should be gray and white. Now place your finger along the fold and look at the bottom square. They are both gray, aren't they? The reason that your eyes see color (s) in this way is similar to the recent Internet phenomenon of “dress”, in which some people saw a black and blue dress and other people saw a golden white (in fact, it was black and blue ) The main theory about why people see colors this way is how people evolved. Our eyes are designed to see color in daylight, so they see objects in context. When you look at something, light enters your eyes and different wavelengths correspond to different colors in your eyes. But the very first light that enters your eyes illuminates the environment, so the brain removes this color from the perception of the object, which makes people see different colors. For example, why do people see a dress in black and blue? The thing is that their brain is difficult to manipulate and they can better recognize the white balance.

Your brain creates a simulation of a world that may not correspond to reality. The "reality" that you see is the result of your unique interaction with this simulation: that is, you can see something that is not there, or not see something that is. It has never been so fun to make mistakes. So, the top 10 optical illusions with explanations of how they work.

1. “Coffer's Illusion,” Anthony Norsia (USA, 2007)

Our brain prefers to extract, emphasize, and process components with sharp gaps and angles, because they contain more information to the eye than soft or curved lines. In this illusion there are actually 16 circles, invisible at first glance and shaded by rectangles.

2. “The Illusion of Rotating Serpents”, Akiyoshi Kitaoka (Japan, 2005)

This is a great example of how we perceive the illusory movement when the image is motionless. The "snakes" seem to spin when you move your eyes around the figure. In reality, nothing moves except your eyes! If you look closely at one of the "serpentine" centers, the movement slows down or even stops.

3. “Self-healing grid”, Riota Kanai (Netherlands, 2005)

You see a pattern of intersecting horizontal and vertical lines in the center, surrounded by a grid of offset crosses left and right. Select one of the intersections in the center and look at it for 30 seconds. You will see that the grid is "restored", becoming completely whole over the entire area.

4. The Mask of Love, Gianni Sarkone (Italy, 2011)

This illusion was discovered in an old photograph of a pair of lovers and transferred to the laboratory of Archimedes, specializing in perceptual puzzles. Gianni Sarkone saw the image and, being shortsighted, thought it was one face. But this is not so. Then a Venetian mask was put on the photo to create the final effect.

5. “Age is only in the head”, Victoria Skye (USA, 2014)

Victoria Skye tried to take a photo portrait of her father as a teenager. She tilted the camera in different directions to avoid glare. When she moved the camera back and forth, she saw her father transform from a teenager into a boy, and then into an adult man. This is an example of a typical anamorphic perspective.

6. “Illusion with rotating oblique lines”, Simone Gori and Kai Hemberger

To feel the illusion, move your face closer to it, fixing your gaze on the central part. When you get closer to the image, the ray lines rotate counterclockwise. When you move away from the image, the lines rotate clockwise.

7. The Throbbing Heart, Gianni Sarkone, Courtney Smith, and Marie-Joe Weber (Italy, 2014)

This illusion creates a feeling of movement or heartbeat, although the image, of course, is completely still. The parallel arrangement of opposite needle-shaped red and white lines makes us see an imaginary ripple.

8. “The Ghost Look”, Rob Jenkins (Great Britain, 2008)

When we do not know where a person is looking, it looks strange. This illusion just uses a similar unpleasant effect. It seems that the twin sisters are looking at each other when you look at them from afar. But when you approach, the sisters look right at you.

9. The Elusive Arch, Dejan Todorovic (Serbia, 2005)

Is this a picture of three shiny oval tubes? Or are these three pairs of alternating ridges and grooves? The left side of the figure looks like three tubes, but the right side looks like a corrugated surface. Trying to determine where the image goes from the tubes to the grooves can drive you crazy. In fact, there is no transition area: the whole image is both “tubes” and “grooves”.

10. The Floating Star, Joseph Houtman aka Kaya Nao (2012)

This five-pointed star is static, but people feel the illusion that it rotates clockwise. We can say that this is a variation of the "Rotating snakes." Hautman determined that the intermittent pattern, in contrast to the geometric pattern that Kitaoka used, is especially effective for producing the effect of illusory movement.

It's time to wake up, gentlemen. The best way to activate brain activity is to understand optical illusions.

And here are 10 cool optical illusions that will blow your brain.

1. Where is the train going?

The direction of movement depends on your view.

2. The effect of a deformed chair

Are you sure the chair is looking at you?

3. The floating cube

In fact, the cube is motionless.

4. Monster Stars

Just look at the cross in the center of the image. Stars will begin to overlap, turning into monsters.

5. Droste effect

Thanks to the recursiveness of the image, it seems as if it is constantly approaching the viewer.

6. Moving sculpture

It seems that the sculpture is spinning on its axis, but it is not.

7. Gears

Animation is created by overlapping lines on each other.

8. Ultra-fast corridor

If you look in the center, then you will move faster. If on the walls - slower.

9. Pseudo-spiral

It seems as if squares create a spiral. In fact, this is not so.

Perfectly even circles are formed from them, take a closer look.

10. Where does the element end?

Bet you can't find a clear ending for each element?

How it works

Our brain interprets visual cues. Between the moment when light enters the retina and the moment when the brain has time to perceive and process information from the eyes, there is a slight delay, measured in milliseconds.

Roughly speaking, we see an image with extremely low latency. Thanks to evolution, the brain has learned to predict how exactly this or that image will look in front of our eyes. So he compensates for the loss.

Thanks to this ability, we can predict where the ball will fly or how to avoid a collision with people.

but the illusions presented here are special.

All these illusions at different times participated in the competition for the best illusion of the year, and fell into the list of the most interesting.

Below you will find some more very interesting optical illusions that can fool your brain.

Optical Illusions or Optical Illusion

10. Colored bubbles

In this optical illusion, you can see colors that are not really on the screen. Colored targets are replaced by ordinary colorless circles (bubbles). Despite the fact that the bubbles are not colorless, they will seem colored when you look at the picture for a long time, especially if you look at its central part.

The most interesting thing is that you will see each bubble painted in a certain color. Its color depends on the size of the bubble. Each bubble is colored in the color of that part of the target that is the same size as the bubble.

9. Here is another similar illusion: we color the drawings

Look in the center of the picture for a black dot for 20 seconds. You will see how simple drawings are painted in pale red and blue. These illusory colors are called “afterimage”. Interestingly, the colors in which the figures are painted change.

8. A grid capable of restoring its integrity

In the image you see a grid that is slightly “broken” around the edges. If you look at the picture for about 20 seconds, then you will see an absolutely whole grid, without any defects. This illusion demonstrates the brain’s preference to see the usual patterns familiar to us.

7. Control panels

Two absolutely identical rectangles become lighter and darker at the same time, but in some cases it seems as though one is getting lighter, while the other is getting darker.

It's all about the gaps between the flashing rectangles and two other rectangles that are on the left and right side of each of the flashing rectangles.

Here's what it looks like (keep an eye on the blinking details while looking at the center of the image):

6. Dynamic gradient brightness

To notice the effect, it is worth sitting at a convenient distance from the picture, and begin to approach the monitor towards the center of the image. You will notice that the closer you get closer to the picture on the monitor, the greater part of it is highlighted.

Here are some more examples of this illusion:

Optical Illusion (video)

5. Daywhen  rain  collapsed  on the  Lowry  (The Day it Rained on Lowry)

This painting by English artist Lowry, "Return from Work." On it we see an industrial area and figures that seem to move, but do not go anywhere. In fact, the movement of people in the picture is an illusion.

It is worth noting that the movement of the crowd is most clearly visible to those people who are used to often walking in the crowd.

It is worth noting that in this illusion it seems to you that people are walking, since another version of it was added to the picture, darkened, in which the figures are slightly shifted. When both pictures appear alternately, the illusion is created as if people are moving.

4. Autokinetic illusion

In the world of optical illusions, the terms "autokinetic illusion" or "illusory movement" are used to describe the movement in a picture in which everything is static, and the viewer knows about it. This is a new version of the autokinetic illusion in which the object in the picture does not just move, but expands. Such an illusion is created due to parallel spiky (needle-shaped) lines.

3. Snow behind the blinds

This illusion is very simple, and at the same time it can impress anyone. It seems that the speed of falling snowflakes increases when the blinds are slightly covered. It is necessary to remove the blinds, and snowflakes fall more slowly.

Optical illusion (picture)

2. Illusion of panels ( CofferIllusion) - how many circles do you see?

At first glance, you either will not see any circles, or you will see only 4. Basically, you will only notice rectangular patterns that resemble wooden doors (panels).

However, there are 16 circles in this picture. It is worth noting that this illusion is a variation of paintings by Gianni Sarcone, who is known for his works in the style of pop art (abstract art based on the optical effect).

1. Movement by the power of thought

In which direction is the movement in the picture going? Up or down? Or maybe left or still right? In fact, the movement occurs only in your head.

At the very beginning, 5 pictures appear that move up and down, but then all the other pictures appear randomly, but you will continue to see the movement.

To make sure that the movement is in your head, just look at the pictures and think “from right to left, from right to left,” then you can think “up-down, up-down” and the picture will move as you like.

Here are some more illusions that can blow your brain

Crazy circle

It seems as if the spheres inside the circle move in a circle. In fact, each sphere moves in a straight line (along the diameter of the circle).

This is just one example of how looking at something in more detail can reveal a hidden image.

A beautiful star that moves smoothly in the picture is actually static. Nothing moves in this picture, all the movement takes place in your head.

Are you looking at this chair from the front or from the back?

Both moving objects are the same size.

The illusion of a big monster

This popular illusion can be found in many psychology textbooks. Two monsters seem to be of different sizes, however they are both absolutely identical in every sense. Your brain automatically corrects images that it perceives as distant. In doing so, it compensates for the fact that the images are larger than they should be.