Topic: Amazing illusions thread (lots of pics)

[TheBlackCat]

This is, as its name implies, a thread for optical illusions.

Appropriately, here is a video of a perspective illusion using the Nintendo's controller as a model.  It is not projected, it is made using construction paper and blacklights:

http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=brusspup&annotation_id=annotation_230956&feature=iv#p/u/0/foF13Ezxt5c

And the amazing inside-out box illusion:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=laty3vXKRek&feature=related

And the Rubik's Poster:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ET66oPXlCJU


And some pictures:




This is not an animation:


Count the dots:

[Caliban]

Woah. I liked the Rubik's Poster illusion.

[ThePerm]

i made this one....step back 10 feet

[BranDonk Kong]

I made this one a few years ago (as in I printed this out, I didn't come up with the illusion) - it's pretty awesome.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zKanr-kNEJs&feature=channel

I don't have a link to the image to cut out, but I'm sure a quick Google search will find it.

[ThePerm]

i made that one too

[TheBlackCat]

Yeah, I made that too, and just recently I saw a printout of it in our shared printer.  That is basically the same as the second video I posted and similar to the third.  When I was in Caesar's Palace in Las Vegas they also had "busts" of Caesar around that were like that, so they looked like the face was following you.  When I was in Disney World recently I also noticed that the Haunted Mansion used a similar illusion in some places.

Here is a pretty cool one:


The trick is that some people see her spinning one way, others see her spinning the other way.  With practice you can make her switch direction at will.  It is even possible to make it seem as though she is just going back and forth instead of spinning (I can only get her to do that for 4 or 5 repetitions and then she seems to go back to spinning).

[ThePerm]

this took me all day to pull off. Go find some 3d glasses and look through the red filter

if your too lazy to search for you glasses just click on the below image and it should transparancize and move it over the picture



doesn't work as well though

[Toruresu]

Yeah, I made that too, and just recently I saw a printout of it in our shared printer.  That is basically the same as the second video I posted and similar to the third.  When I was in Caesar's Palace in Las Vegas they also had "busts" of Caesar around that were like that, so they looked like the face was following you.  When I was in Disney World recently I also noticed that the Haunted Mansion used a similar illusion in some places.

Here is a pretty cool one:


The trick is that some people see her spinning one way, others see her spinning the other way.  With practice you can make her switch direction at will.  It is even possible to make it seem as though she is just going back and forth instead of spinning (I can only get her to do that for 4 or 5 repetitions and then she seems to go back to spinning).

This one is mind blowing! How am I making her change directions? Please, explain the illusion

[ThePerm]

the illusion is your mind calculates depth of objects, but with a silhouette there are no color cues, so it can switch from looking at it one way, and looking at it another.Its hard to get your mind to switch it.

[UncleBob]

You know, that dancing lady has *NEVER* worked for me.  I only see her dancing one way - every time.

[img width=640 height=480]if your too lazy to search for you glasses just click on the below image and it should transparancize and move it over the picture

That is actually a pretty awesome effect...

[Caliban]

That swirling lady's awesome. I don't even focus my eyes on her, and I can see that she is going back and forth with her leg , and not just in one direction.

Oh, and I like the Dragon too. It's made of awesome.

[TheBlackCat]

This one is mind blowing! How am I making her change directions? Please, explain the illusion

It's called a Gestalt switch.  Basically when there is an ambiguous image that can be seen two or more different ways, people generally interpret it one way initially.  The mind can often be forced to interpret it a different way.  Some are easier than others.   It is a classic form of optical illusion.

Here is a good example:


In this specific case, the human mind is very tuned to picking up images of humans.  This isn't really a picture of a woman, it is a solid black 2D shape that is constantly changing.  But the human mind naturally interprets anything human-like as being human.  Just look at Charlie Brown, he really looks nothing at all like a human, but the human mind has no problem interpreting him as one.  If we actually saw someone who looked remotely like charlie brown, we would think the person is deformed beyond belief:


But in order to do that for the "spinning woman", the mind has to interpret it as though it were spinning.  But since it is a just a solid 2D shape of uniform color, without any of features (like eyes) or depth cues (like shadows) that could tell you which way it is spinning, which way you interpret it is completely arbitrary. 

What is happening specifically is that you are changing which leg you think she is standing on.  You could either see it as her standing on her left foot, with her right foot sticking out, in which case she is spinning clockwise when looking from the top, or you can see it as though she is standing on her right foot, with her left foot sticking out, in which case she is spinning counterclockwise.  Neither view is superior to the other.  I normally see her in the former case, seeing her as the latter take a little effort.  Others are the other way.  How easy it is to change also depends on the person, and it gets easier with practice for many.

And here people were saying science isn't fun unless stuff is blowing up...

[ThePerm]

heheh, unless it involves lots of colors should be added to the list

since i made my last red filter pic, i am now working on a fully animated one. Its allready looking trippy as all hell.

with the spinning chick picture, i find it easiest to turn my head and blink, depending on which way i turn it will switch.

and or focusing on my finger and spinning my finger and then switching

[TheBlackCat]

I usually look at the reflection in order to make it switch personally.

[ThePerm]

another red filter image i made

[that Baby guy]

We've actually already had spinning lady in another thread some time ago in general chat.

[King of Twitch]

once, twice, three times a lady

[Mop it up]

You know, that dancing lady has *NEVER* worked for me.  I only see her dancing one way - every time.

Same. With the reflection there, I don't know how to make it spin the other way, as that seems to make it clear she is spinning with her right leg out.

[ThePerm]

another red filter, i still got to figure out how to do a cyan filter....im guessing its much much harder



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Lwlx3GnLGs

[vudu]

You know, that dancing lady has *NEVER* worked for me.  I only see her dancing one way - every time.

Same. With the reflection there, I don't know how to make it spin the other way, as that seems to make it clear she is spinning with her right leg out.

The way I get her to switch directions is to stop looking at her and instead read the post immediately above or below the one she appears in (do it so she's still visible on your monitor, obviously).  Don't look at her directly and she changes out of the corner of your eye.

[ThePerm]

I made this one.
both an eye twister, and a red filter image. enjoy

actually i should write a message encryption program

[nickmitch]

I can't get the girl to spin the other way. :^/

[ThePerm]

heres another method i just thought of for the red filter...red liquid of some sort in a bottle or glass.

[bustin98]

I can't get the girl to spin the other way. :^/

Stare below the post she is in, so she's in your peripheral vision. As the leg spins around to the edge, this is the time for your mind to decide if the leg is coming toward you or away from you.
 
I posted this image before so many years ago...

[ThePerm]