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ILLUSIONS visual phenomena
"Stepping feet” Motion Illusion strong, beautiful and (relatively) easy to understand
Motion Induced Blindness an illusion of disappearing dots
When you look at this picture close range you see Albert Einstein.
Now stand up and take several steps back, roughly 15 feet away,
It will become... Marilyn Monroe.
Snake Illusion ad lib with a new explanatory twist
Pinna-Brelstaff Illusion
Motion Aftereffect (Waterfall Illusion) also known as »waterfall effect«
Spiral after effect more effective for some
Reverse Spoke Illusion something for the specialist
Wagon-wheel effect closely related to stroboscopic artifacts
Stroboscopic Artefacts making a teaching point out of a nuisance
Sigma Motion an optical illusion due to an interaction of image dynamics and eye movements
Enigma by Isia Leviant
Freezing Rotation Illusion a "Best Illusion of the Year” winner
Reverse Phi Motion something for the specialist
"Stepping feet” Motion Illusion radial version of »Stepping feet 1«, weaker
Motion-Bounce Illusion sound influencing perception of motion (crossmodally)
Motion Binding
Van der Helm’s "Kaleidoscope Motion”
»Optical illusion« sounds pejorative, as if exposing a malfunction of the visual system. Rather, I view these phenomena as bringing out particular good adaptations of our visual system to standard viewing situations. These adaptations are »hard-wired« in our brains, and thus under some artificial manipulations can cause inappropriate interpretations of the visual scene. As Purkinje put it: »Illusions of the senses tell us the truth about perception« (cited by Teuber 1960).
Before we delve in, I’d like to express my thanks to the many visitors who gave overwhelmingly positive @feedback, adding constructive advice on content and style ; please do keep it coming! [Or use the guestbook.] I have also been able to improve explanations when convincing scientific evidence was sent ;-). Yes, it does take sizable resources to set up and maintain this, but it is also very rewarding, bringing me into contact with so many charming people. Should you want to give back, simply link to this page or use the donation link ;-). Any advice is appreciated – and, yes, for a non-native speaker, English does represent sizable challenges.