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Now you see it: Best visual illusions of 2009

newscientist.com — Every visual illusion works exactly the same way: they expose discrepancies between physical reality and our perception of that reality. That makes visual illusions appealing objects of study for neuroscientists: they offer clues to how our brains handle the information we receive about the outside world, in particular how we process visual images

Who dugg this? Made popular Jun 2, 2009

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  • DeusNova, on 06/02/2009, -1/+242009 isn't over yet...
  • SkippyDoorknob, on 06/02/2009, -0/+23Yes it is. The remaining months are only an illusion.
  • anexanhume, on 06/02/2009, -0/+13Try logging out of your brain and logging back in. Worked for me.
  • Subduction, on 06/02/2009, -1/+6So if I come up with a visual illusion in the next six months I'm *****?
  • MikeFez, on 06/02/2009, -2/+6About the video on the right, "Contrast colour":
    "If you stare at this rotating circle, you should see three concentric circles: pink, blue and green. But when the circle stops moving, you can see that the arcs that create these circles are actually all black"
    *****, pause the video and the black lines are now colored.
  • muty, on 06/02/2009, -0/+3genital?
  • Ersh777, on 06/02/2009, -2/+5I don't understand why MikeFez is getting dugg down. Pause the video and the "black" lines are colored.
  • andersleet, on 06/02/2009, -1/+3Its neither, it has 50% female characteristics and 50% male characteristics, or an androgynous figure.
  • nepidae, on 06/02/2009, -0/+2why is it only the dove that is colored though?
  • cageme, on 06/02/2009, -1/+3Buried for complete garbage layout.
  • nepidae, on 06/02/2009, -1/+2time is an illusion, lunchtime doubly so.
  • anaxa, on 06/02/2009, -4/+5http://digg.com/general_sciences/World_s_Greatest_ ...
  • sc0ttius, on 06/03/2009, -0/+1Because the dove is white but due to the surrounding information flooding our receptors with red, our eyes are actually seeing the dove as an extremely low opacity red. Although you don't perceive the red where the dove is white, the cones capturing the white information are also capturing the red information.

    However, when a pure white background around the dove appears (remember, cones are faster than rods) it takes a second for our brain to interpret the data and "refresh" the slightly red dove as the same white as the background.
  • ezflip, on 06/02/2009, -0/+1The dove one was the only one that worked for me.
  • SarahC, on 06/02/2009, -0/+1I wonder if it's something to do with the variable refresh rates on peoples monitors breaking the illusion?

    Maybe they had to fake the "black" arcs just to get the meaning over... naughty that they didn't mention it in the text.
  • logic6, on 06/02/2009, -0/+1Because air is invisible
  • PaulClayberg, on 06/02/2009, -0/+1French/Spanish for "cool"
  • hays, on 06/02/2009, -2/+2I attended the competition discussed in the article. It's held as part of the Vision Sciences Society conference in Florida each may. It was a fun show.
  • soloman747, on 06/02/2009, -3/+3So.....for the Illusion of sex one.........is the model male or female?
  • ebcreasoner, on 06/02/2009, -1/+1Thanks for the advice. Trying right now. BRB
  • zip000, on 06/02/2009, -2/+2It didn't work for me either at first, I had to do it a few times before it took.
  • unsigneddigger, on 06/02/2009, -2/+2Did you first select a background color on the right?
  • sc0ttius, on 06/02/2009, -2/+2I just wrote the researcher an email explaining the colored dove study - just in case they haven't figured it out yet...

    "The residual effect seems to occur like a "flash lag" effect, not an afterimage. Although we do not focus on the blue background, information from the blue stimuli still affects our cones and the information sent to our brain. Therefore, the visual information is present, but not necessarily obviously perceived. Once this stimuli is taken away, the residual effect occurs - NOT as an afterimage - which is why it does not show its complementary color - but as residual information.

    The blue background with the white dove is the "old" information. The white dove is really slightly blue due to the surrounding information. The white background is "new" information and consequently it takes our brain a second to process the perceived "old" white (blue tint) as the "new" white and the residual effect occurs."
  • bryon, on 06/03/2009, -0/+0Snob.
  • PaulClayberg, on 06/02/2009, -1/+1@SarahC:
    Do you honestly expect a web video to emulate the eye's resolution and the brain's speed?
  • advancedthought, on 06/02/2009, -0/+0because your moms a whore.
  • SlpingInsomniac, on 06/03/2009, -1/+1I once, lived...
    in a giant bucket.
  • fxdbi, on 06/02/2009, -3/+2I can't wait until I get home tonight so I can try the Tube illusion!
  • 5humb0dy, on 06/03/2009, -1/+0On the "Illusion of Sex" I think there is a lot more at play. In the high contrast image it is obvious the person is wearing makeup - eyeshadow and lipstick are clear. In the darker low contrast image this is not obvious. A lot of women take on "boyish" attributes when their makeup is off (read - they wash off their "contrast") just because we have been socially trained to see women with it on. I think this is a social illusion, not an optical one.
  • SpiritOfRock, on 06/02/2009, -8/+7Dove one didn't work for me. The rest are pretty cool.
  • tecpatl, on 06/03/2009, -2/+1Best Optical Illusion Ever

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8mS5RK0Yo6w
  • jwolcott, on 06/02/2009, -3/+2I like the "Illusion of Sex" one...somehow the illusion for me is independent of contrast.
  • TheHerk, on 06/02/2009, -3/+1What suck, is that you are right. ... and I'll be dead tomorrow; all the days between just an illusion.
  • renanrrinaldi, on 06/02/2009, -3/+1I see what you did there!
  • Mootabolife, on 06/02/2009, -3/+1If you look at the future, the past will seem to disappear.
  • Mootabolife, on 06/02/2009, -3/+1I came up with that paper roll one when I was a kid.. I always figured it was due to the roll eye adjusting to darkness and taking in more light.. hence brighter.
  • jetboyterp, on 06/02/2009, -7/+4This comment isn't really here.
  • Qays, on 06/02/2009, -4/+1I want to try the false hand one. Now where to find a false hand...
  • derek20cali, on 06/02/2009, -4/+1Lrn2read.
  • sociablees, on 06/02/2009, -3/+0genial
  • JacksonYaya, on 06/02/2009, -6/+0Did you see this link in the comments? Watch it once and count how many times the kids in white toss the ball. Then watch it again.

    http://viscog.beckman.illinois.edu/flashmovie/15.p ...
  • logic6, on 06/02/2009, -12/+5Those are some ***** illusions
  • Stumpie2012, on 06/02/2009, -9/+1This is what these web sites have to write about? Best visual illusions of 2009, are you kidding me??? Who gives a *****.

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