35 Of The Best Optical Illusions That Have Become Internet Memes

2023 Author: Gordon Kinson | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-11-26 08:36

Having at our disposal an excellent optical device practically unparalleled in living nature, our brain can still be deceived quite easily. Correcting the perception of the visual image, he is able to wishful thinking, “finish painting” non-existent details and cut off unnecessary, in his opinion, image elements.

Optical illusions can be divided into many categories, and in each of them there are examples that are truly amazing to the imagination and make you think about how far our perception of reality is from reality.

In the late 19th - early 20th centuries, the so-called impossible figures gained popularity, and the Swede Oscar Ruthersward became the father of a whole trend in the art of creating illusion at home. A feature of his paintings is the image on the plane of three-dimensional objects that cannot be reproduced in our 3D world. In particular, he penned the famous "Penrose triangle" and a number of other "impossible figures".

In the digital age, several genres of optical illusions have also appeared, one of which can be attributed to static images, which, due to the special play of color and the inability of our brain to simultaneously process all the details, appear to be animated.

12 black dots

For example, in this image posted on social media by psychology professor Kitaoka from Japan, 12 black dots don't want to be in their place, disappearing and reappearing as the viewer's pupils move.

16 laps

See the 16 circles in the image below? And they are:

Illusions of movement

The painting by the artist Kai Nao is also impressive - the star drawn on it seems to rotate on its axis.

It's hard to believe that all these drawings are actually motionless.

Is the figure moving or not? The Mickey Mouse figurine seems to be moving, but in fact, this effect is created by the changing shadows and background.

It's the same here - the gears don't really move.

Chaps and figure in figure

Another very popular type of optical illusion is "flip-flops" and "drawing in a drawing". In such images, you can find one or more objects hidden by the author.

Popular at the dawn of the Internet "The Princess and the Witch",

Horse and toad:

"Snow White and Sherlock":

"Old Men and Mexicans":

Some of these optical illusions are fascinating puzzles. For example, in this picture, it is easy to spot a pair of lovers, but it is much more difficult to find dolphins.

And here who do you see a girl or an old woman?

The author hid the goose, although most viewers find the dog in the clouds and Pushkin's profile:

And in this figure it is quite easy to find not only an Indian, but also an Eskimo:

Turning stars into monsters

Several years ago, researchers at the University of Queensland, researching visual distortion, created an optical illusion video that conquered the Web. In it, the viewer sees photographs of celebrities to the right and left of the cross in the center, which he is looking at, while peripheral vision distorts portraits and turns stars into monsters.

Amazing transformation of geometric shapes into mirror image

In 2005, enthusiasts instituted the Best Illusion of the Iear Contest, which was won last year by Japanese mathematician Kokichi Sugihara, who demonstrated a truly amazing effect of transforming geometric shapes into mirror images.

Ames room

Perception of geometry in general is a big problem for our brain. A striking example is the "Ames room", in which one person seems to be a giant, and the other - a midget. The effect is usually achieved with distorted squares on the floor and walls to hide the fact that the room is trapezoidal rather than square in shape.

The illusion of intersecting circles

Another geometric illusion makes us think that circles, made up of small squares, intersect with each other.

In fact, this is not the case.

Illusions with color

Our brains have a hard time detecting colors, they can be easily tricked by the background. In the picture below, the red squares on the left appear darker than the ones on the right, but they are not.

All the balls in the images below are actually the same color.

And here is a visual demonstration of the dependence of the color we perceive on the background of the image:

Photo illusions

What color is the dress? It is incredible, but some people claim that the photo below shows the dress in black and blue, others think that it is white and gold.

Is this cat climbing the stairs? Or is it still descending? We can ourselves change the direction of its movement by the power of thought. Schrödinger would have appreciated.

Normal, at first glance, photo.

But if you turn it over to its usual position, then our brain will stop correcting errors of perception and show everything as it is.

These bars lie on top of each other from one end and next to the other, and our gaze cannot find the golden mean.

A quick glance at these two images allows us to assert that the leaning Tower of Pisa is more inclined to the right than to the left, but this is not the case. This is another interesting effect that makes us perceive two images as a whole with broken symmetry.

Stunning audio illusion "Yanni or Lorl"

Listen to the audio fragment on the video below and be sure to share the article with your friends (you can listen together at the same time), the result will surprise you - some people hear Yanni, others Lorl. What do you hear?

Popular video illusions

A very interesting three-dimensional illusion is Gardner's tracking dragon, which you can do with your own hands using a printer, paper, scissors and tape (you can find the corresponding template using Google).

Another option:

Which way will the chair turn?

The illusion of gear rotation is achieved by superimposing lines on top of each other.

And here is one of the most ambitious presentations of optical illusions from the OK music group, known for its masterpiece videos.

7 great optical illusions in a fresh clip from the Quirkology channel.

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