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The Optical Illusions Thread

I have to admit that I don't quite get this one?

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And this is why. . .
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After staring at the cross in the center of this image for 20 seconds or so, you will start to see either a green dot running around the circle or a green dot circling around, seeming to erase the magenta dots on the grey background. If you shift your eyes, the magenta dots will appear again.
The lilac chaser, otherwise known as the “pac-man” illusion, is primarily the effect of “negative retinal afterimage,” which occurs when our perceptual system adapts to fill in the gap left by the “afterimage” of complementary hues on a neutral background. In this case, the disappearance of lilac dots produces the appearance of afterimages of the complementary color (green).
And the Gestalt effect contributes to the visual phenomenon of a flying green disk. After a while, the brain starts to integrate the successive afterimages and perceive a single flying object instead.
Very easy to get this one:crazy:
 
Yes it did with me also, but only on the bigger version. Without clicking and enlarging this one I posted, if I stare at the cross, the magenta circles just disappear and it becomes a blank page.
Staring at it for a while - I only eventually saw the single green circle going around, nothing else?
 
Staring at it for a while - I only eventually saw the single green circle going around, nothing else?

If I enlarge the picture to full size, I do too, (if I concentrate on the cross). If I move my vision away from the cross, the magenta dots come back along with the green dot going around them. If I stare at the cross in the small photo, no green dot appears and the magenta dots slowly fade away.
 
I think this link with illusionary images is fascinating.
What must be one of the earliest illusionary images, which have come to represent many things.
This is the image of the 'Triskelion:'

The triskelion.jpg
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Putting it together with the 'Three Hares' illusion (i.e. Three Hares but only three ears!), you can see these are both mesmerising images.
Also - if you stare a while at the Triskelion, you'll start seeing it everywhere.:pop:
 
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This is one among a series of similar illusions that are tricking your mind into seeing shape-changing and motion that isn't really happening.
The Circles in This Illusion Actually Aren't Changing Shape or Moving at All, Sorry

... Of course, everybody has an opinion on what kind of mental magic is going on here.

Some ideas we can dismiss pretty easily.

Many optical illusions work by toying with contrasts in our field of vision. ...

These specific spinners, however, appear to change thanks to the way our brains deal with information immediately within our focus, which is different to the way it processes peripheral information. ...
FULL STORY: https://www.sciencealert.com/this-colorful-new-spin-on-a-classic-illusion-has-brains-tripping-again
 
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Just for the reference, it's the same guy who I linked in post #492 (p.17).

Sid, if you cover the arrows with your thumbs, the shapes still 'move'.
Funny you should mention that 'flannel,' I was thinking about that this very morning ~ wondering if it would change anything.
Probably the shapes still appear to move because the lighter colour behaves in exactly the same way as the pointing arrows, drawing your minds attention to follow which direction (sync) they are apparently in to each other. Just goes to show just how fast our brains can work. . . (apparently 600 milliseconds) well, with some variations of course.:cool3:
 
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Funny you should mention that 'flannel,' I was thinking about that this very morning ~ wondering if it would change anything.
Probably the shapes still appear to move because the lighter colour behaves in exactly the same way as the pointing arrows, drawing your minds attention to follow which direction (sync) they are apparently in to each other. Just goes to show just how fast our brains can work. . . (apparently 600 milliseconds) well, with some variations of course.:cool3:
I‘ve tried putting a ruler against the edges of the circles and they still look like they are changing shape.
 
I‘ve tried putting a ruler against the edges of the circles and they still look like they are changing shape.
Must be because they fool our brain into believing they are shifting position, maybe because our mind likes to work ahead of itself (as usual), and interprets the information into pre-thoughts?
There's something to think about eh!
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