Optical Spy
Welcome to the world of optical illusions
  • Opticals
  • Spy Base
  • Spy Blog
  • Escher
    • Escher
    • Escher in Color
  • Galleries
    • David Arthur-Simons Gallery
    • Optrix Gallery
    • John Langdon Gallery
    • Gianni Sarcone Gallery
    • Redmer Hoekstra Gallery
    • Donald Rust Gallery
    • Optical Spy Gallery
    • Tech Art Gallery
    • Animated Art Gallery
    • Body Art Gallery
    • Guido Daniele Gallery
    • Banksy Gallery
    • David Macdonald Gallery
    • Oleg Shupliak Gallery
    • Ben Heine Gallery >
      • Ben Heine Biography
    • Liu Bolin Gallery
    • Erik Johansson Gallery
    • Major Drapkin Gallery
    • High Speed Photography Gallery
    • Tom French Gallery
    • Willard Wigan Gallery
  • List of Illusions
  • Street Art
    • Street Art
    • Evol Gallery
    • Banksy Gallery
  • Contact
  • About
    • Conditions
  • Slide
  • SiteMap
  • Good Stuff
  • Personal Illusion
  • Store
  • Optical Illusions
  • Oleg Shuplyak
  • Oleg Shuplyak Gallery
  • Untitled

Neuroscientists find famous optical illusion surprisingly potent

2/23/2013

0 Comments

 
As seen in the video above the yellow jacket (Rocky, the mascot of the University of Rochester) appears to be expanding. But he is not. He is staying still. We simply think he is growing because our brains have adapted to the inward motion of the background and that has become our new status quo. Similar situations arise constantly in our day-to-day lives — jump off a moving treadmill and everything around you seems to be in motion for a moment.

This age-old illusion, first documented by Aristotle, is called the Motion Aftereffect by today’s scientists. Why does it happen, though? Is it because we are consciously aware that the background is moving in one direction, causing our brains to shift their frame of reference so that we can ignore this motion? Or is it an automatic, subconscious response?

Davis Glasser, a doctoral student in the University of Rochester’s Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences thinks he has found the answer. In their paper, the scientists show that humans experience the Motion Aftereffect even if the motion that they see in the background is so brief that they can’t even tell whether it is heading to the right or the left.

Find more here Neuroscientists find famous optical illusion surprisingly potent.

Interestingly, we found the affect still worked after watching the video and then looking at a page of text on a piece of paper or a web site – Optical Spy

0 Comments

Optical illusion reveals reflexes in the brain

2/11/2013

0 Comments

 
Picture
New research by psychologists at Queen Mary, University of London has revealed that the way we see the world might depend on reflexes in the brain. Writing in the Journal of Vision, Dr Michael Proulx from Queen Mary's School of Biological and Chemical Sciences, and former student Monique Green, explain how an optical illusion known as the Müller-Lyer Illusion captures our attention more strongly than other visual tests, suggesting that the brain calculates size as a reflex fast enough to guide where the eyes look.

The Müller-Lyer illusion was first described by F.C. Müller-Lyer in 1889, and is one of the most famous size illusions. He found that two lines of the same length can be seen as longer or shorter by simply adding arrow heads that point in or out at either end.
Picture
In this study, Dr Proulx and Green asked participants to search for a vertical line among distracting lines tilted to the left and right. All of the lines had arrow heads at either end that randomly pointed in or out, making some lines appear to be longer or shorter than others due to the illusion. They found that the line that appeared to be the longest captured the participants' attention the most. Dr Proulx explains: "The surprising difference here is that the perceived longer line not only captured their attention, but was even more distracting than the sudden appearance of something new as shown in prior research.
Picture
"This suggests that many visual illusions might be so effective because they tap into how the human brain reflexively processes information."
Picture
Optical Spy note - The illusions shown here have nothing to do with this latest research, but we thought you might enjoy an example of the famous Muller-Lyer illusion.
0 Comments

The Ames Room Illusion

2/4/2013

0 Comments

 
Picture
An Ames room is a distorted room that is used to create an optical illusion. Probably influenced by the writings of Hermann Helmholtz, it was invented by American ophthalmologist Adelbert Ames, Jr. in 1934, and constructed in the following year.

An Ames room is constructed so that from the front it appears to be an ordinary cubic-shaped room, with a back wall and two side walls parallel to each other and perpendicular to the horizontally level floor and ceiling. However, this is a trick of perspective and the true shape of the room is trapezoidal: the walls are slanted and the ceiling and floor are at an incline, and the right corner is much closer to the front-positioned observer than the left corner (or vice versa). (See overhead view diagram)

As a result of the optical illusion, a person standing in one corner appears to the observer to be a giant, while a person standing in the other corner appears to be a dwarf. The illusion is so convincing that a person walking back and forth from the left corner to the right corner appears to grow or shrink.

Studies have shown that the illusion can be created without using walls and a ceiling; it is sufficient to create an apparent horizon (which in reality will not be horizontal) against an appropriate background, and the eye relies on the apparent relative height of an object above that horizon.


0 Comments

    Optical Illusion Website



    Why not subscribe to our Spy Blog

    Subscribe

    RSS Feed


    Picture
    Picture
    Picture

    Archives

    October 2017
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013


    Illusions

    Sitting in the Pool -  Balloon Dog Illusion -  Deer Tree -  Driving through an Earthquake -  A Mind Bending Optical Illusion -  Houdini Illusion -  Can you read this? -  Faces in the Woods -  Self Filtering Swimming Pool -  Is Sylvester on Twitter? -  Pretty Lady -  Flying on the Beach -  Invisible lady -  Blocks and Lines -  Road to nowhere -  Rubik's Triangle -  Perspective -  What Lies Beneath? -  Escaping Flower -  Which Building is in Front of the Other? -  Steelwork Illusion -  Eyeball in the sink -  Leopard Illusion -  Cliff Face -  Yesterdays News Today -    Checkerboard Illusion -  It's a Small World -  Office Illusion -  The Lamp is a Lie -  Checker Board Illusion -  Can You Sleep? -  Green and blue Optical illusion -  Australian Building Optical Illusion -  Not Wavy At All -  The Winners of the 2014 Best Illusion of the Year Contest -  Is Religion an Illusion? -  Doctor Who? -  Which One is Real? -  Mind Your step -  Animal Illusion -  Animal Illusions -  Pig Owl -  Impossible Jenga -  The Lady Is For Turning -  Moving Balls Illusion -  Building on Tilt - Really -  Building on Tilt -  Psychedelic Dylan -  Man Lands on Moon -  Nice Dancing Spot -  Can you see the hiden Animal? -  Moon Illusions -  Coming or Going? -  Big Ben in the Shade -  Stereographic Monsters -  Spiricles -  Toulouse Lautrec Illusion -  Boat Illusion -  Mondrian Slide Puzzle -  Scaffold Illusion -  Chair Position -  Eye - Optical illusion -  Man changes color of rose -  Invisible Chinese Artist -  Magnifier -  Bendy Straws -  Cow Illusions -  Victorian UFO -  Infinite Zoom Illusions -  Movie Quiz -  Archway -  Butterflies -  Dancers on Stage -  Going Down -  Texas leaf cutter -  Cubes -  It's behind you! -  Cricket Illusion -  Ambiguity -  Tech Art -    Alphabet -  Whoops! -  Magic Eye Video -  Marie Celeste -  Beach Art Illusion -  Can You Name This Famous Couple -  Which Way are the Cars Moving? -  Suzi Perry Optical Illusion -  Black Spot Illusion -  Rainbow IllusioN -  Miniature Food Art -  Mobius Wall -  3D Snake Chalk Art -  The Maric Arrow Optical Illusion -  Three Legged Lovely Optical Illusion -  Amelymeloptical illusion -  This Hot Chocolate is Good Enough to Eat -  Alien Illusion -  Body Illusion -  Back of Hand Illusion -  Union Jack Illusion -  Grid Illusion -  Floating Circles Illusion -  Hidden Message -  Bird Glasses -  Houses -  What's wrong with this picture? -  Frozen Illusion -  Body Paint Babes -  Big Girls Illusion -  Funny Illusions -  Indoor Anamorphic art -  Plate Size Optical Illusion -  Which Cigarette is the Biggest? -  Veg Man -  Amazing Paper Illusion with a Twist -  Left or Right Illusion -  Good or Evil? -  How Many Zebras? -  Spinning Disk Illusion -  Amazing Secret Monitor -  Upside Down Couple Illusion -  A Simple Question of Shape -  Hole or Mirror? -  Hiding in the Stones -  Floating Illusion -  Right Angle illusion -  Two Straight or Wavy Line Illusions -  Block Illusion -  Black & White Illusion -  Hole in the Street -  USB -  Animal silhouette? -  Bart Simpson Illusion -  Balls Illusion -  Kissing the Sphynx -  Crossed Lines Optical illusion -  Bridge Line Illusion -  Between the Lines Optical Illusion -  Pencils Optical Illusion -  Twisted Lines Optical Illusion -  Spear Optical Illusion -  Moving Traffic -  House Tilt Illusion -  Boat After Image -  This will Make You Chuckle -  Moving Lines Illusion -  It's an Up and Down World -  3D Animated GIF Illusion -  The McGurk Effect -  Houdini's ghost -  Ring Pull Barrel -  Extra Square Illusion -  Ladder Illusion -  Ape Tree Illusion -  Moving Words Illusion -  Steak Faces -  Winter Olympic Rings -  Marbles and Eyeballs -  Statue of Liberty Illusion -  Eye Color Illusion -  Which Pencil is Longest? -  Kate Russell Illusion -  Star Trek - Back to the Future -  Box Lid Illusion -  Stairs Illusion -  One Direction Illusion -  Line Illusion -  Spinning Head Illusion -  Toblerone's Logo Illusion -  Physics Illusion -  Amazing Video -    Dice Illusion -  Can You Read This? -  White or Black Crosses Illusion -  Alien Tiger Missing Square Illusion -  Three New images Added to Our Liu Bolin Gallery -  SPY LINES -  Little Girl Laughs Her Head Off -  Patrick Hughes Corner Stores -  Sketchy Cube Illusion -  Seattle UFO -  Big Cubes - Little Cubes -  See Through Tree Illusion -  Grid Shade Test -  3D Dotted Grid -  December 31st, 2013 -  Road Markings -  Stephen Fry - Alan Davies Illusion -  Bruegel's Illusion of a Magician -  Glass Floor? -  Tom French -  Merry Christmas Illusion -  These Four Images Are Just One Single Picture -  Star Shade Illusion -    Crossword -  Strange Bandstand -  Which is the Biggest? -  Holding Up the Moon -  What a Lot of Balls! -  Now that is what you call CamoUflage -  How Many Squares -  A Waist of Time -  Animal Face -  Tartan Illusion -  Ring Illusion -  Scary Room -  Hole or Hill? -  Colorado River Illusion -  Richard Branson Optical Illusion -  Slow Ball 2 -  Train Wheels Illusion -  Disappearing Star Illusion -  Moving Balls Illusion -  A Spyral that is not a Spiral -  Graph Illusion -  Stripey Illusion -  Can you find the cat? -  Le Blanc-Seing - Rene Magritte -  Circling Arrows Illusion -  Parrot Illusion -  Balance Beam Illusion -  CatMan -  Pollyanna Woodward Upside Down Illusion -  Famous Painting Quiz -  Snow Face Here! -  Looking Down -  Honda's Illusion Ad and How It's Made -  How to create chocolate out of nothing -  Hidden Animals -  Checker Board Balls Illusion -  Moving Patterns Illusion -  Penn Jillette Optical Illusion -    Clocks Illusion -  Three Movers -  The Mouse and the Lion Illusion -  Semi Circles -  Old Spyral -  Tyre Art -  How Many Faces? -  Incredible Illusions & Science! -  Vintage Car Illusion -  The Ball Switch Illusion -  What's hiding here? -  Jungle Illusion -  The Hand of God -  Color Illusion -  Bouncing or Crossing Balls? -  Sisters in Arms -  Perspective Motion Illusion -  Charles Darwin -  Spinning Wheel -  Don't Drink and Read! -  Where are these places? -  Tyred Tree! -  Moving Monster truck -  Hypnotic Eye -  Diagonals Illusion -  Color Strips -  Paper Face Illusion -  3 Circles Illusion -  No Swimming in this Lake! -  The Magic Hula Hoop Illusion -  Alan Mason Illusion -  Karun Chandhok -  London Eye Bike Illusion -  Frosty Babe -  In or Out Illusion -  Eye Time -  Little Bike Riders Illusion -  Target Illusion -  Erik Johansson -  Can You Spot the Photographs Hiding in Plain Sight? -  Black and White -  Sun Bean -  Clouds or Tsunami? -  Left or Right -  The Melancholic Princess -  Moving Flowers -  More Hidden Faces -  Hidden Faces -  ForeArms -  Two Trains Coming or Going? -  Is this Train Coming or Going? -  Up and Down -  Color Words Challenge -  Shahrukh Khan Illusion -  Orange cross Illusion -  Pyramid or Skylight Illusion -  Rory Cellan-Jones Illusion -  Office Sign Illusion -  Moving Spy -  Historical Illusions -  Shiva by Luke Brown -  Juggling on the Beach -  Assumptions -  London, the Kitchen of England -  Philosophical Question -  Devil in the Sky Illusion -  Looking Around -  Tiger Nuts Illusion -  Bobbyllew Illusion -  Desktop Puzzle -  Desktop Puzzle Answers -  Hidden Words -  Chair Illusion -  The Tree of Life -  A Clockwork Illusion -  Rollercoaster -  Fly Past -  Snakes Illusion -  Which Line is Longer? -  Short Pack - Long Pack Illusion -  A, B or C? -  Kissing Shadows -  Moving Stone -  Hiding in the Pebbles -  Who are these two? -  Umbrella Illusion -  Be Very Careful -  Hold that Plane -  Dolphin Illusion -  Bulge -  Color Puzzle -  Japanese Fighting Bots -  Pen Holder Illusion -  Garage Door Illusion -  Why the Long Face? -  Key Places -  Invisible Spy -  Orange Spin Illusion -  Brain Numbing Illusion -  Banana Illusion -  Violin Island -  Window Illusion -  Moon Illusion -  Blue Diamond Illusion -  Rabbit Cat -  Waves -    Video No1 -  Owl Eyes Illusion -  Halo Halo -  Rock Climber -  London Eye Illusion -  Disappearing Stars -  Barber Shop Illusion -  Barber shop Illusion Revealed -  Find the Stars -  Spinners -  Optical Owl -  LadyBird -  Hollywood Face Illusion -  Strips -  Vortex -  Eyeball -  Amazing Anamorphic Illusions! -  Heavenly Body -  Lovers -  Pick the Pattern -  Lizard Haircut -  Moving Shapes -  Brick Wall Illusion -  Rotating Disk -  Don't Lose Your Head -  Eye Eye -  Magic Eye Message Illusion -  Mona's Pets -  
Copyright © opticalspy.com. All rights reserved. | News