OPTICAL ILLUSIONS

Optical illusions, more appropriately known as visual illusions, involve visual

deception. Due to the arrangement of images, the effect of colors, the impact of the
light source, or other variables, a wide range of misleading visual effects can be seen.

If you've ever struggled to see the hidden image in a single-image stereogram,

you may have discovered that not everyone experiences visual illusions in the same
way.

For some illusions, some people simply are not able to see the effect.

Optical illusions can be fun and fascinating, but they can also tell us a great
deal of information about how the brain and perceptual system function. There are
countless optical illusions out there, but here is a sampling of some of the most fun
and interesting.

Troxler’s Effect
This visual phenomenon called the Troxler Effect, first discovered by Swiss
physician Ignaz Paul Vital Troxler in 1804, reveals how how our visual system
adapts to sensory stimuli. This is due to the fact that our neurons stop responding to
unchanging stimuli--in this case, the static blurry image in the background--which
causes the image to disappear from our consciousness.
Chubb Illusion (luminance)

The Chubb illusion was first discovered by Charles Chubb and colleagues
Sperling and Solomon in the late 1980s when they experimented with perceived
contrast by placing low-contrast visual objects on various backgrounds.
As you can see in the image above, when the textured object is placed on a
plain grey background, it seems to have more contrast than when the same object is
placed on a high-contrast, textured background.
One explanation for this common visual error is “imperfect transmittance,” a
condition in which the brain needs to navigate ambiguity for visual perception, such
as when viewing something through fog or from a distance. When there is lack of
light falling on the retina, our brain tries to determine the true color or contrast of
the object by making an imperfect (and oftentimes inaccurate) interpretation, such
as when the low-contrast object is on a grey background.

Checker Shadow Illusion

Adelson’s checker shadow illusion is a classic example of how our visual

system does not perceive in absolute terms. Here the situation for visual
interpretation on the checkerboard is complex: There is light coming onto the
surface, then there’s the shadow cast by the cylinder, and both light and dark squares
under the shadow.

There are several variables involved in how the brain determines the colors of
squares A and B, as explained by Adelson, using past experiences with contrast and
shadows as a reference point. Here, the proximity of light and dark squares as well
as soft shadows fools the brain into making the wrong judgments.

But for Adelson, this illusion is proof of our visual system’s effectiveness,
rather than its defectiveness, in that it successfully constructs meaning by breaking
down visual information.

Lilac Chaser

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. We will delve more into the Gestalt effect
later.

The Poggendorff Illusion

Look at the image on the left: Does the black line seem to line up with the
blue line? In actuality, the black line is lined up with the red one, as revealed in the
image on the right.
Named after Johann Poggendorff, a German physicist who first described this
illusion in 1860, the Poggendorff illusion reveals how our brains perceive depths and
geometric shapes, but the cause of this optical illusion has not yet been adequately
explained.
Although so far no theories have satisfactorily explained this visual error, the
prevailing belief is that our brain attempts to interpret a 2D image with 3D properties
and distorts the depth between lines. If you are inclined to read more about it, here
is an entire website dedicated to the Poggendorff illusion.
Shepard’s Tables

When you look at the two tables above, do they appear very different in size
and shape? Would you believe that the two tabletops are exactly the same? If not,
check out this animated illustration to see for yourself.
First presented by American psychologist Roger Shepard in his book Mind
Sights (1990), this simple yet astonishing visual illusion is further proof that our
vision system is largely influenced by our experiences with the outside world and
therefore interferes with reality sometimes.
In this illusion, the perceptual error was caused by the fact that our brain
couldn’t help but make a 3D interpretation of the 2D pictures, and perceive very
different sizes because of perspective foreshortening: The closer the object is in
distance, the larger it is on our retina.
 Kanizsa’s Triangle (Gestalt effect)

If you aren’t seeing a triangle formed by the edges of the Pac-Man yet, I
certainly am. The nonexistent triangle also appears to be brighter than the
background, although they are of the same luminance.
This illusion, popularized by Italian psychologist Gaetano Kanizsa, reveals
how we tend to seek closure in our visual perception. Some of the best optical
illusions are based on the principle that our brains are trained to fill in the gaps
between shapes and lines and perceive blank space as objects even when there aren't
any.
In other words, Kanizsa’s triangle is a case in point that our visual perception
is shaped by experiences and not merely dependent on sensory input.

Impossible Trident

Look closely: The three prongs miraculously transform into two at the end of
the fork. The more you look at it, the more improbable it becomes. How does this
happen?
Often said to have made its debut on the cover of the March 1965 issue of
"Mad Magazine" as original graphic art, Impossible trident is also known as the
Devil’s Fork, Impossible Fork, or a blivet. The lines are joined at the end to create
the illusion of a prong. And because our minds tend to reconstruct 3D imagery out
of the flat 2D image, it creates the illusion of depth.
Illusory Motion

Illusory motion is the appearance of movement in a static image. Here, the

dots appear to wobble, but it's just a normal, non-moving pattern.

A study led by researchers from the Barrow Neurological Institute explained

that tiny eye movements and blinking cause the dots to look like they're moving.
Ebbinghaus Illusion
The two dots in the middle appear to be different sizes but are actually the same.

The circle on the left appears to be larger than the circle on the right because
it's surrounded by smaller circles.

This illusion happens because the brain uses context in order to judge size like
when the brain assumes something small is far away. Since the circle on the left is
surrounded by smaller circles, it makes sense that the brain thinks it's larger than a
circle surrounded by much larger circles.

OPTICAL
ILLUSIONS