Optical Illusions Etc...
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Description Presented here is a vast gallery of many different forms of Optical Illusions. Whether these optical illusions are conveyed through fractals, photographs, architecture, art, or old fashioned pen and ink, they are bound to remind you that "seeing is not believing."

Caution!!!! Some of the optical illusions on this blog may cause dizziness or possibly epileptic seizures. The latter happens when the brain can't handle the conflicting information from your two eyes. If you start feeling unwell when using this website, immediately cover one eye with your hand and then leave the page. Do not close your eyes because that can make the attack worse.
Fractal of the Day Fractal of the Day
Provided By Sprott's Fractal Gallery

Friday

Sky Meets Land Illusion


and in other words, encapsulate
flickr artist: turbohamster

This is an amazing photo that has not been manipulated. The photo artist says, "no trickery just a puddle after a rainstorm in sonoma. this was just next to my mailbox. i count myself as lucky here."

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Thursday

Flatiron Building Optical Illusion

This is the back side of the Flatiron building in Toronto, Canada. The mural was done by Derek Besant and installed in 1980. The building itself was built in 1892 and is unique in its own right, view it from the front.


Unveiling
flickr artist: David G Kelly

The mural, called Trompe.d'oille is even more unique than it looks due to two facts. 1st the mural isn't painted on the building but on a raised board attached to the building. The 2nd thing that makes this mural unique is that mural is actually painted to be a reflection of the Perkins Building, which is located directly across the street.

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Wednesday

Sailing Optical Illusion

Here is a nice beginning of Summer optical illusion. With the temperature on the rise a nice day on the lake is just what the doctor ordered, just don't forget your sunscreen.

Sailing Optical Illusion

Herman J. Verwaal
copyright 2006
used w/permission


Herman has a large collection of optical illusions that he has created over time. He has generously allowed me to feature a few of his pieces here. This is just one (check the sitemap for his others) of many. His illusions run the gambit and I will be showing you more of his excellent Trick-Art in the future.

Thank You for sharing these excellent illusions Herman.


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Tuesday

Create Your Own Sky Optical Illusion

This a very clever photo taken of a new product called Cumulus-in-a-Can or at least that is what the photo artist says,

"Cumulus in a can... You can buy anything these days! :) "
Despite appearances this image was not photoshopped. I have heard people point to the fact that the sky is a different color blue around the can as proof. To those I would only point out that that is the way the sky is with light fluffy clouds floating around. Besides you can go to this large image and take a closer look.

This was one of many attempts at getting this shot just right. In the end though this outstanding photo, the best of the bunch, has one basic flaw.

Can you spot the flaw?


Create Your Sky
Copyright 2006
Flickr Artist: raspberrytart
Used w/permission


What brought this image to my attention was the fact that another blog stole the image and put it on their blog without giving the artist credit. She had just uploaded the image and within 8 days someone had stole it.

She has an excellent eye, click on either link under the photo to see more photo art from this artist.

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Monday

Acrobats in Optical Illusions

While cruising the internet I came across the Acrobats Illusion Video below, this mention of acrobats and illusions reminded me of the below painting by Rob Gonsalves. He has an excellent eye for transitioning from the normal to the surreal.

Acrobatic Engineering Optical Illusion

Acrobatic Engineering
Copyright Rob Gonsalves
Available for sale across the internet





Les Kiriki Acrobates Japonais is an excellent optical illusion video directed by Segundo de Chomon in 1907.
According to the IMDB the plot is "A troupe of Japanese acrobats perform various stunts in front of the camera." They further state that Segundo "Joined Pathe Laboratories in 1901 where he specialized in adding color to film."
Yes this was created and hand colored in 1907.

Hit play button to start the video or go to Google Video.


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Sunday

Crooked Man's Optical Illusion

Here is another excellent illusion. Looking at this image things seem a little out of sorts.

Is it leaning to one side?

The truth is that each square that makes this image up is the exact same size. Some have white borders and some have black borders but the whole image is plumb. That is to say that the lines vertical and horizontal are all respectively parallel to each other.

To paraphrase a nursery rhyme despite the title above this is not the "The Crooked Man's Optical Illusion"

Fobie Optical Illusion

Herman J. Verwaal
copyright 2005
used w/permission


Herman has a large collection of optical illusions that he has created over time. He has generously allowed me to feature a few of his pieces here. This is just one (check the sitemap for his others) of many. His illusions run the gambit and I will be showing you more of his excellent Trick-Art in the future.

Thank You for sharing these excellent illusions Herman.


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Saturday

Land of the Giants Optical Illusion

This is a wonderful photo because there was no photo manipulation done to this what-so-ever. The Welsh hobbyist photographer and artist Twm says of this picture, "My younger brother outside Howells department store Cardiff"


Caught my eye
flickr Artist: Twm™

Excellent "eye" (pardon the pun) Twm! Click on either link under the photo to see more art from this photographer.

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Friday

Real World Cafe Wall Optical Illusion

This famous illusion is very effective in this example. The tiles are all square and all horizonal lines are parallel to each other. The history of this can be read here in a previous post.


Illusion
flickr author: Corgi_T

I think the caution sign is very appropriate given the fact that this wall messes with your perception of reality.

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Thursday

Tornado Optical Illusion

Here is a brand new creation by Herman J. Verwaal. This optical illusion has an amazing sense of motion while viewing it. As you scan your eyes across the image the tornado provides the illusion of twisting counter-clockwise.

Tornado Optical Illusion

Herman J. Verwaal
copyright 2006
used w/permission


Herman has a large collection of optical illusions that he has created over time. He has generously allowed me to feature a few of his pieces here. This is just one (check the sitemap for his others) of many. His illusions run the gambit and I will be showing you more of his excellent Trick-Art in the future.

Thank You for sharing these excellent illusions Herman.


Continue reading the full article...

Wednesday

Jastrow Size Optical Illusion

The Jastrow illusion is an optical illusion discovered by the American psychologist Joseph Jastrow in 1889. In this image, the two figures are identical, although the bottom one appears to be larger.

Jastrow Size Optical Illusion

So you look at the above and say OK maybe they are the same size. You can even see that it is true. How about the photo below, is it possible that these two are the same size?

Three Cubes Optical Illusion

Even knowing that the two above are the same size it is hard to believe. Look at them how is it possible for them to be the same size? Well you don't have to take my word for it, check out the video below. This time Seeing is believing!


Filmed at the Hong Kong Science Museum by YouTube.com user kennsiu.


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Tuesday

Three Cubes Optical Illusion

Here is another interesting illusion. When I first looked at this image I saw three cubes that had been folded from a paper cutout. The cubes looked a little sloppy and deformed. But the truth dawned on me and I realized that these are three perfectly shaped cubes, each represented by flat sides and proper angles. It is just the checker pattern that causes these cubes to look deformed. Well Done Herman!

Three Cubes Optical Illusion

Herman J. Verwaal
copyright 2005
used w/permission


Herman Verwaal has a large collection of optical illusions that he has created over time. He has generously allowed me to feature a few of his pieces here. This is just one (check the sitemap for his others) of many. His illusions run the gambit and I will be showing you more of his excellent Trick-Art in the future.

Thank You for sharing these excellent illusions Herman.


Continue reading the full article...

Monday

DIY Dragon Optical Illusion

Below are two videos of Dragons that have been created by folding paper. They are not motorized in any fashion and at no point in either video do the dragon's move in the slightest.

However due the way they are folded and an optical illusion they will all appear to follow the camera. First user jdannan on YouTube.com shares this video of his pet dragon.


Second user leezbot on YouTube.com shares this video of a small dragon family. The family is very nice and I believe that the little blue dragon above originated with this family before striking out on his own.


If you would like to create your own pet dragon click the below image and download the large image to your computer. Then using A4 size paper print out the template and follow the directions.

Dragon Optical Illusion


I will follow up later this week with an explanation and examples on why this optical illusion occurs.


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Saturday

Where's Waldo Absolut Style

Here is another excellent Hidden Image illusion to have some fun with. Absolut's 82 vodka bottles image. Absolut has had many excellent ad campaigns over the years and they don't disappoint us with this one. A little viral marketing never hurt anyone.

Find in the image below 82 different outlines of absolute bottles. Click the image for a larger version or click here for a monster 1600x1200 1.5 meg version.

Let's start off the list.

1. The police tape lower right.
2. The dead bottle outline lower right within the police tape.
3. The cans tied to the just married car.
4. The stairs lower right above the police tape.
5. The stairs middle bottom.
6. The three wall cutouts and windows on the Museum of Natural history. One big bottle under each word Museum, Natural and History.
7. Between the two front legs of the skeleton in the Museum.
8. The alien space craft taking the cow (upside down).
9. The flock of flying things next to the spaceship. Is that Captain Underpants?
10. On the deck with the party goers in the lower left I see 6 but I'll only claim the actual bottle of vodka sitting on the table.

Your turn...


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Friday

Spiral Optical Illusion

Here is another amazing illusion with a sense of motion. As you scan your eyes across the image the spirals provide the illusion of rotating.

Spirals Optical Illusion

Herman J. Verwaal
copyright 2005
used w/permission


Herman has a large collection of optical illusions that he has created over time. He has generously allowed me to feature a few of his pieces here. This is just one (check the sitemap for his others) of many. His illusions run the gambit and I will be showing you more of his excellent Trick-Art in the future.

Thank You for sharing these excellent illusions Herman.


Continue reading the full article...

Thursday

3-D Model of Escher's Ascending and Descending Optical Illusion

The below 3-D model of Escher's Ascending and Descending was created by John Atkinson using Hash Inc.'s Animation:Master. John says,

"Over the Christmas holiday of 2001, I was reading "Escher on Escher" and became taken with the notion of attempting to create a computer model of the subject of one of my favorite Escher illustrations--the cluster of buildings in his work entitled "Ascending and Descending". This was one of what have been termed his "Impossibility Series"."
John also provided a little peak behind the scenes of this image. You can check out a video clip that let's you walk around the stairs just as if you were one of the monks. This allows you in on a little secret of how this optical illusion was accomplished in a 3D model.

Ascend Descend Optical Illusion

Homage to M.C. Escher
Copyright © 2002 John Atkinson
2nd Place, Jan 2002 Anything Goes
Click for larger version
Used w/permission


Other Works by M.C. Escher



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Wednesday

Vertigo Optical Illusion

Some people may react to this anomalous motion optical illusion and if you think you might be one of these people it is important to read the caution at the top of this page prior to proceeding.

Below is an optical illusion by Miwa Miwa obviously a fan of Alfred Hitchcock movies. Excellent work Miwa, thanks for sharing your illusions with us.

Vertigo Optical Illusion

Vertigo
(c) miwa miwa 2006

Used w/permission


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Tuesday

Rabbits and Fox Illusion

I found this image on PD4's journal. His site is in Russian, but even so he didn't seem to provide any background on these hunters. I guess the rabbits are tougher in Russia.

You can view each hunter up close by clicking here.

Rabbit and Fox Optical Illusion

Rabbits Turn the Table on the Fox Illusion


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Zollner Motion Optical Illusion

Even though the basic illusion here is based on the Zollner illusion there is also a lot of anomalous motion indicated in this optical illusion. The four columns are all parallel to each other, but some viewing this might experience the columns as leaning toward or going away from one another.


Zollner Motion
Based on the work of A.Kitaoka


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Monday

Escheresque Waterbridge Illusion?

Here is a very unusual site. At first glance my instinct was to think there is something wrong with this picture. The image reminded me of something out of a M.C. Escher drawing.



The bottom line though is that this is indeed what it looks like a waterbridge. This bridge opened for business in 2003.
"Public infrastructure projects are notorious for taking longer than expected, but Germany'’s new water bridge tying the Elbe-Havel canal to the important Mittelland canal, which leads to the countryÂ’s industrial Ruhr Valley heartland, was over 80 years in the planning." Read more...


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Sunday

South Pole After Image Optical Illusion

The nature of this optical illusion is to paint a grey scale image using only your eyes.

Below is Lieutenant John Bortniak out for a stroll at the South Pole.

Focus on his nose in the center for 30-45 seconds then move your mouse over and the image it will then swap to the grey scale image, but you will see the original image in all it's glory.


Photographer: Commander John Bortniak, NOAA Corps


Stare at the image below. It will show the negative image for 10 seconds and the gray scale image for 1 second. The longer you look at it the more pronounced the effect.


Illusion (c) 2006 W. Anthony
Photographer: Commander John Bortniak, NOAA Corps

Want to make your own go here.


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Friday

Rocket Launch Optical Illusion

Here is another wonderful illusion with a sense of motion. As you scan your eyes across the image the rocket provides the illusion of lifting off of the launch pad.

Rocket Optical Illusion

Herman J. Verwaal
copyright 2005
used w/permission


Herman has a large collection of optical illusions that he has created over time. He has generously allowed me to feature a few of his pieces here. This is just one (check the sitemap for his others) of many. His illusions run the gambit and I will be showing you more of his excellent Trick-Art in the future.


Continue reading the full article...

Wednesday

Where's Waldo 100 Films Illusion

From lovefilm.com comes this image depicting 100 films. Click the image for a larger version.

How many movies can you find?

(Via Giavasan)

cascade Optical Illusion

Click for larger image

Here are a few I see right off the top.

Toy Story
Dances with wolves
Beetle Juice
Pete's Dragon
Scorpion King
Goldeneye
Napoleon Dynamite
Blazing Saddles
Titanic
Doctor Who

There's 10 only 90 to go.


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Tuesday

Cascading Lines Optical Illusion

This optical illusion is based on the Poggendorff Illusion. In that illusion we saw that diagonal lines passing through a rectangle could be deceptive. Below we have horizontal bars passing through diagonal spaces. While viewing this illusion it is easy to be drawn into the perception that each set of lines is a little lower each time they pass through the blue gaps.

You and I know the truth though. All we have here are horizontal lines that run straight and true across the entire illusion. Excellent work Herman.

cascade Optical Illusion

Herman J. Verwaal
copyright 2005
used w/permission


Herman has a large collection of optical illusions that he has created over time. He has generously allowed me to feature a few of his pieces here. This is the seventh (check the sitemap for his others) of many. His illusions run the gambit and I will be showing you more of his excellent Trick-Art in the future.


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Monday

Poggendorff Optical Illusion

The below flash presentation is an example of the Poggendorff illusion.

Wikipedia
The Poggendorff Illusion is an optical illusion that involves the brain's perception of the interaction between diagonal lines and horizontal and vertical edges. It is named after Johann Poggendorff (1796-1877), a German physicist who first described it in 1860.
It can be a very strong illusion at first. Trying to line up the top and bottom lines so they meet can be tricky. Most of us though will not be fooled for long and some may not be fooled at all. I can align the two lines just about every time now. It has reached the point that I doubt if it will be a challenge for anyone. Maybe it never was a strong illusion, sometimes my memory plays tricks on me. This illusion seems to be stronger with kids.

Move one of the lines sticking out of the box until you think it matches up with the other one. Now press the button.

Do the lines match up?




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Friday

World's Largest Lightness Optical Illusion

This illusion was one of the ten finalists in the 1st annual (2005) "Best Visual Illusion of the Year" contest. It was billed as the "World's Largest Lightness Illusion." In all of the below images the letters, figures, chess pieces, and orbs and their counterparts are all the exact same color. For a detailed explanation read this article in Nature (Image segmentation and lightness perception) or read their shorter explanation submitted with their illusion here. Let's take each image one at a time.

The EVCP, 2005 and the human figures on the left are identical in color to their counterparts on the right, click on the image to view a 4960 x 3508 pixel size image. Scroll back and forth and try to see these figures as the exact same color they are.

lightness Optical Illusion

© 2005 Barton L. Anderson & Jonathan Winawer
used w/permission

Still not convinced maybe a static example isn't good enough click on the image below and view another example of this illusion in motion. Quicktime is required to view this illusion. Both the left and the right orbs are the exact same color at every moment.

lightness movie Optical Illusion

© 2005 Barton L. Anderson & Jonathan Winawer
used w/permission

If the movie was hard to believe you could do what I did and capture the screen, print out the image then cut out each orb. This will prove beyond a doubt that the orbs are the same color. If you don't have time to go through the above steps you can just check out my last example. Move your mouse over the image and you effectively see the chess pieces as if you cut them all out. Cool, ain't it?

© 2005 Barton L. Anderson & Jonathan Winawer
used w/permission

Submissions for the 2007 contest are now welcome. Submit your ideas now and take home this prestigious award!
About the contest

"The contest is a celebration of the ingenuity and creativity of the world'’s premier visual illusion research community. Visual illusions are those perceptual experiences that do not match the physical reality. Our perception of the outside world is generated indirectly by brain mechanisms, and so all visual perception is illusory to some extent. The study of visual illusions is therefore of critical importance to the understanding of the basic mechanisms of sensory perception, as well as to cure many diseases of the visual system. The visual illusion community includes visual scientists, ophthalmologists, neurologists, and visual artists that use a variety of methods to help discover the neural underpinnings of visual illusory perception."


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