Fascinating optical illusions

If any of y'all want to understand the mechanisms of these illusions, I recommend an old book "Eye and Brain" by Richard Gregory.
 
Here's something to ponder... (If you know the answer, hold it for a while as not to spoil it for the others)

weird.jpg
 
Gigante said:
Here's something to ponder... (If you know the answer, hold it for a while as not to spoil it for the others)
Click to expand...
Yep, I know it and won't spoil the fun :)
It's a nice one.
 
Gigante said:
Here's something to ponder... (If you know the answer, hold it for a while as not to spoil it for the others)
Click to expand...

I never saw that before either; pretty cool. I had to hold a piece of paper up to it to see if what I thought was correct. ;)

The first post was also very cool. I thought it would be stuff I'd seen before too, but it wasn't. :)

~ashes
 
Gigante said:
Here's something to ponder... (If you know the answer, hold it for a while as not to spoil it for the others)
Click to expand...

I always liked that one for its simplicity and ease of reproduction.
 
That's amazing. Actually, the first illusion is the one that has me shaking my head. I still can't believe it.
 
panella said:
That's amazing. Actually, the first illusion is the one that has me shaking my head. I still can't believe it.
Click to expand...

1 and 3 are both amazing. A lot of illusions either "go away" if you think long enough or can be identified as illusions instantly. But those two you would never even suspect.
 
Those illusions are incredible. THANKS!

OK, I'm a dope. I've dissected and studied that triangle puzzle for a half hour and still can't finger it out. I even did well on the IQ test in the Community... :rolleyes: :p Or so I thought. This one gave me the stumps. :rolleyes:

Clue?

Coop
 
SharpByCoop said:
Those illusions are incredible. THANKS!

OK, I'm a dope. I've dissected and studied that triangle puzzle for a half hour and still can't finger it out. I even did well on the IQ test in the Community... :rolleyes: :p Or so I thought. This one gave me the stumps. :rolleyes:

Clue?

Coop
Click to expand...

Check out the slope of the two triangles (that is, the red and bluish-green triangles, not the larger compilations). Just count the ups and overs. They are not the same so the top line of the completed shape is not actually straight. On the top picture it dips in a little, while in the bottom picture it bulges out to make room for the empty space.

I suppose the different colors help keep you focused on the component shapes and less on the entire arrangement. It's probably also harder to notice such a small difference on a computer monitor. If you were looking at all black shapes cut perfectly from paper, you would probably notice the bend.
 
Hey Carl,

I was close. I saw the *slight* discrepancy in the upper line against the graph, but did not fully attribute that because of the lower quality of the image. That said, I see the distinctions now.

Very cool. Thanks. I lose. :D

Coop
 
the first illusion is bogus. If you move the "swatch" around the screen you can see it changes color when it goes up & down. Ignore the A and B squares - move it from the top left (surrounded by white) to the bottom left (again, surrounded by white). Midway down, the swatch clearly changes color. #2 and #3 are not so obvious, but I'm sure for all 3 it's a clever programmer playing tricks on you - not your eyes.
 
I'm not so sure. Adelson and his optical illusion are
listed in several sites as well as a large pdf file on
the subject. He's listed as a professor at MIT
and this illusion seems well regarded.

http://cvcl.mit.edu/collaborators.htm

http://www.twocw.net/mit/NR/rdonlyres/Brain-and-Cognitive-Sciences/9-01Fall-2004/E17411AE-45C6-472C-8EDD-B2525FB0F177/0/vision3.pdf#search='professor%20edward%20h.%20adelson,%20mit'

There's also another version with a different "swatch" that
makes comparison a bit easier. I couldn't get my swatch
to change color. If you move it next to each square
you'll see that it matches some and not others.
 
RH said:
the first illusion is bogus. If you move the "swatch" around the screen you can see it changes color when it goes up & down. Ignore the A and B squares - move it from the top left (surrounded by white) to the bottom left (again, surrounded by white). Midway down, the swatch clearly changes color. #2 and #3 are not so obvious, but I'm sure for all 3 it's a clever programmer playing tricks on you - not your eyes.
Click to expand...

If you have a cheap flat panel monitor, or a defective/damaged CRT, that might be causing this. It doesn't do it on mine. Try opening a second IE window, have the "swatch" in the high position in one and the low position in the other, and move the windows so the swatches line up.

Or you could do a print screen, paste it into MS paint, and cut/paste either the swatch or one of the squares. It shows just barely different due to a poor picture rendering in the flash program (making it inconsistent color within the squares just a little), or maybe the result of the fade used when making the original drawing, but I'm sure you will change your mind once the code is eliminated. It works for #3 too. I didn't bother with #2 because it's not new to me.
 
panella said:
That's amazing. Actually, the first illusion is the one that has me shaking my head. I still can't believe it.
Click to expand...

yah, that one got me too. The third one doesn't though. Both cross pieces look the same to me. I can't see yellow in the left one at all. *shrug*
 
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