Sea Sickness Optical Illusion

I decided to try my hand at some illusions. The below image is the result. This is an anomalous motion illusion so please read the caution at the top of this page.

This is how I visualize the results of sea sickness in the optical illusion world. You can see the center spiraling down toward the deck and the outside splashing out after hitting. I know it doesn't sound nice, but that's life in the world of illusions.

What do you think? Do you see any motion in this image?

Sea Sickness
Walt Anthony (c)2007

You can click to continue reading full article, but the truth is, this is it, there ain't anymore.

Peace!

Update: Steve Higgins over at Omnibrain has dubbed this "The Purple Nurple Optical Illusion".

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Snowflake in the Wind

This is an anomalous motion illusion, as you scan the image and your eyes move from one point to another parts of the image will appear to move. This creation was inspired by Akiyoshi Kitaoka, he is a master of optical illusions and a must stop for all fans. If you have been to his site in a while he is adding things on a regular basis.

Snowflake in the Wind
Walt Anthony
2007

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Disappearing Color Optical Illusion

I ran across an illusion that purported that if you stared at the center the colors in the image will be represented by shades of gray. The best I could do with that illusion was shades of red. I decided that it missed the mark, but I recalled the Disappearing Fluff optical illusion that did cause colors to vanish into a gray mist. Using the color scheme from that illusion I modified the original image (developed by Ed Minchau) until I succeeded in creating an optical illusion where the colors faded away and all that was left were shades of gray.

Vanishing Color
(c)2007 Walt Anthony

Stare at the center dot (for about 60 seconds from about 12 inches away) and shortly the various colors should blend into various shades of gray. Did this optical illusion work as well for you as it does for me? Let me know.

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Ponzo Optical Illusion

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia - The Ponzo illusion is an optical illusion that was first demonstrated by the Italian psychologist Mario Ponzo (1882-1960) in 1913. He suggested that the human mind judges an object's size based on its background. He showed this by drawing two identical lines across a pair of converging lines, similar to railway tracks. The upper line looks longer because we interpret the converging sides according to linear perspective as parallel lines receding into the distance. In this context, we interpret the upper line as though it were farther away, so we see it as longer – a farther object would have to be longer than a nearer one for both to produce retinal images of the same size.

I had been waiting quite a while for a great image to provide the backdrop for this illusion. Railroad tracks and long stretches of highway had been used to death. When I saw this great photo by Nuno Leitao I realized the search was over.

The two red lines (or three if you move your mouse over the image) below are duplicates, they are the exact same size. Which image is more convincing the one with two lines or the one with three lines?

Ponzo Illusion
(c) 2006 Walt Anthony

Original Photo:
(c) 2006 Nuno Leitao, used w/permission

Tags: photos, optical_illusions, illusions, art

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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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How To Create your own Colorization Optical Illusion

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

I originally saw an illusion that put an afterimage into a photo here and here. I also realized the importance of having a swappable background here, and found an illusion to add color to a B&W image here. All of these items combined inspired me to get off my butt and put this post together. I created another illusion here.

1. Pick an image with some color, preferably something everyone would recognize. For this demonstration I picked a nice public domain image of a Monarch Butterfly.

Original Image
Photo courtesy PDPhoto.org

Create two images from this image.

2. First change the original image to gray scale using a program like Paint Shop Pro. Save the image by a different name. You may wish to lighten the image by changing it's brightness or gamma settings. This image works best with no changes to the gray scale image. But experiment with the final product to see what works best for the image you selected.

3. Next create a negative of the original image, also using a program like Paint Shop Pro. Save the image by a different name.

Gray Scale .JPG Image	Negative .JPG Image

4. Now that you have your two images launch any basic animation program. I used Jasc Animation Shop (Paint Shop Pro's companion). This has an animation wizard. I just wanted to create a 2 frame animation. I placed the negative image in frame one and the gray scale image in frame two. I set a 10 second delay between frames 1&2 and a 1 second delay between frames 2&1 and chose to allow it to loop forever.

5. Walla, now you have your own illusion. Look 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.

I also provided a mouse over image below. Focus in the center for 30-45 seconds then move your mouse over and the image will swap to the grey scale image, but you will see the original image in all it's glory. While you hold your gaze on the gray scale image you may see the butterfly shift, even flutter as you attempt to keep the new colors in place.


A mouse over version for your viewing pleasure.
Stare at the center of the image for 45 seconds then move your
mouse over the image and view the grey scale image in full color.

Animated .GIF Below

© 2006 W. Anthony
used w/permission

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