July 28, 2009

Awesome optical illusions

Optical illusions are completely intriguing. In my next career I shall become a neuroscientist so I can understand exactly how eyes and brains work. In the meantime, I'll just appreciate the amazing illusions from Akiyoshi Kitaoka (via Coudal) and the award-winning entries posted by the American Institute of Physics (thanks, Andrew). I apologize to anyone who feels nauseated by staring at this post. Quick, look away.

(Image from Akiyoshi Kitaoka)

19 comments:

  1. LaurelJuly 28, 2009 at 2:12 PM

    oooooh! I am hypnotized

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  2. Larissa HollandJuly 28, 2009 at 2:27 PM

    wow. it moves. that is. weird. (staring)

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  3. Jenn Grigoryev (jenn of all trades)July 28, 2009 at 2:58 PM

    if you stare at one spot really hard it all stops moving. as soon as you get distracted it's all spinning again...weird...

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  4. erinJuly 28, 2009 at 3:43 PM

    Oh ow, that thing hurts my brain! :)

    If you're interested in how we see, a great book to check out is "Visual Intelligence" by Donald Hoffman. He explains how our brains and eyes work to put together the pieces of what we see, including how they can sometimes be wrong- like when the hubcaps of a car look like they're spinning the wrong way. It's a fun read!

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  5. personalityispreferredJuly 28, 2009 at 4:25 PM

    Will have to pass this cute post to my daughter who is studying brain and behavior. would look great in orange too!!

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  6. LiPeonyJuly 28, 2009 at 4:36 PM

    Looks like everything is spinning O_O!

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  7. Kim MJuly 28, 2009 at 5:33 PM

    I have a book of these so I can feel dizzy at any given time of the day.

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  8. Jessica JonesJuly 28, 2009 at 5:35 PM

    That's excellent. You never can tell when you'll get a sudden urge to feel dizzy.

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  9. LindsJuly 28, 2009 at 11:46 PM

    GET OUT! neato beneato!

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  10. BeckyJuly 29, 2009 at 4:26 PM

    Dizzy but fun!

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  11. deeJuly 29, 2009 at 11:14 PM

    OMG it took me five tries to realize this wasn't a gif. That is one of the best optical illusions I've ever seen!

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  12. JigsawJonesJuly 30, 2009 at 9:25 PM

    OH GOD MY EYEEESSSSSS! WHY?? ;)

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  13. interior designerJuly 31, 2009 at 2:45 AM

    I got the same kind of illusions emailed to me as a powerpoint this morning, there's a few more in it, quite intriguing. One is a black and white picture, if you stare at it long enough and then stare at a blank wall and bling a few times, you can see a face looking a lot like Jesus Christ face, i couldnt believe it!!! has any of you tried it?

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  14. The Needle ShopAugust 1, 2009 at 8:49 PM

    Have you heard about the sensory crossover people who can taste music and hear green? Fascinating.

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  15. AnonymousAugust 2, 2009 at 2:28 PM

    very cool. I can think of certain times in my younger days that this would have been even cooler.

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  16. ErinAugust 9, 2009 at 10:25 AM

    nauseated? I'm hypnotized! crazy stuff . . . philosophy of perception is outta control

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  17. made sweetAugust 10, 2009 at 10:35 AM

    what??! this is so awesome/crazy/mind blowing!

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  18. PhotoPuddleFebruary 19, 2010 at 4:48 PM

    Cool - thanks for sharing!

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  19. AnonymousJune 26, 2010 at 5:21 AM

    This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

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