There are a number of mind baffling optical illusions in the world. The longer you stare at them, they less they make sense. But, there is always a simple explanation behind them. Even knowing the explanation does not make them any less fascinating.
We will take a look at five of the most famous and puzzling optical illusions and how they work.
1. Titchener Circles:
This is one of the most famous optical illusions known as the Ebbinghaus illusion or Titchener circles. It is basically a smaller circle surrounded by a ring of larger circles and a larger circle surrounded by a ring of smaller circles. Taking a look at the picture as a whole, the first circle looks smaller than the second one whereas they are actually both the same size.
The explanation is very simple. It is because of how our mind perceives size. It all depends on context. By changing the context in which both circles are shown, our perception of their relative sizes changes.
2. Motion Illusion:
Some of the most common optical illusions are those which show movement where there is none.
They typically operate by presenting a pattern made up of high contrast colors or tones. These contrasting aspects trigger different neural signals simultaneously. This results in a motion-detecting effect when no motion is actually present.
3. Spinning Dancer:
The spinning dancer is an illusion that goes viral every once in a while. It is basically a silhouette of a dancer spinning but you can control the direction of her spinning with your mind.
The key to the illusion is in its lack of visual cues concerning depth and also the ambiguity of the dancer’s anatomy. This is hard for us to conceive and we see it in a conflicting state.
4. Rubin’s Vase:
This is a very famous image that many of you might have seen before. This can either be seen as a vase or as two faces facing each other.
The key to this illusion is explained through the principle of figure-ground organization. This means we look at the figure by both looking at what is in front and what is in the background. When we stare at the black background, the figure becomes the vase and when we look at the white space, the figure becomes the two faces.
5. Impossible Trident:
The impossible trident is one of the most famous examples of impossible objects optical illusions. The figure shows a three pronged object but they are originating from only two sources.
This works by tricking your brain into thinking of a 2D drawing as a three dimensional object.
Let us know what you think about these optical illusions.
