Please note that a new feature has been added to An Optical Illusion.  Directly under the search bar on the right hand side is a link titled Random Optical Illusion.  Clicking this link will do exactly what you think it might do – it will load a random post from our database.  While I was playing around with it, I ran into several posts that I had completely forgotten about.  Have fun!

I have always been a big fan of the optical illusions created by Roger Shepard.  He created one of my favorite illusions in the world – the Impossible Elephant – and his brilliance is quite evident in his 1990 book titled Mind Sights.  I would encourage anyone who has not read the book to find a copy and immediately dive into it.  Today’s illusion, which appears in Mind Sights, has two alternate titles – one is called “Time Saving Suggestion” and the other is “Getting Down to Business”.  In this ambiguous image, you will either see two rows of arrows or a a group of men heading down a set of stairs.  The original image that appeared in Mind Sights was black and white.  This version has been colorized by stereogram and graphic artist Gene Levine.

Over the past few months, we have had several requests for a mobile version of An Optical Illusion.  We listened.  Now you can view a simplified version of the site on your mobile device.  At the bottom of the layout, you will also have the option to turn the new layout off and view the site in normal mode.  For our mobile users out there, we would appreciate if you could pass along any bugs or glitches that you might happen to find.  And now for today’s optical illusion….

While there are several different theories, vision scientists are not exactly sure why certain static images can trick our brains into thinking that they are moving.  In this excellent example by Akiyoshi Kitaoka, the radial lines appear to move toward you from the eye ball in the center of the image.  Don’t stare at it for too long, though – you might get a headache!

More motion illusions, like the Moving Mona Lisa Face, can be found on Akiyoshi Kitaoka’s website.

The two illustrations below are nearly identical.  The only difference between these two images is the placement of the square shadows beneath each of the cubes.  In the upper image, the square shadows are placed just below the cubes making them appear to be hovering slightly above the checkered-pattern surface.  In the lower image, two of the shadows (the second and third) are placed further away from the cubes.   This gives each of the cubes the appearance of hovering even higher above the surface.  Shadows give our brains important clues that help to determine the physical orientation of objects in space.  Because of this, shadows can also be used to easily fool us.

Capturing a photograph at the right time and from the right angle can be a magical thing for a photographer.  This type of forced perspective technique often produces very amusing results.

Another great forced perspective example is the optical illusion compliments of hurricane Sandy.

If you have an Apple iPad and enjoy viewing stereograms, I would high encourage you to checkout two stereogram apps created by Gary W. Priester and Gene Levine – Eye Ball 3D and Eye Ball 2 3D.  Each features 48 high resolution 3D images.  They also have a free app titled How to Eye Ball 3D Stereograms that will teach you the ins and outs of viewing this type of image.  If you have had trouble seeing these in the past or think that you simply cannot see stereograms, this might be the best place to start.  The following image by Gene Levine is featured in the first volume of the Eye Ball series.

Brusspup videos have always been popular on this blog.  You do not have to watch many of them to understand why.  Here, Brusspup demonstrates how it is possible to make gravity work in reverse – or at least give the impression that it is.  You may recall that this video is similar to his Impossible Balls Illusion.  I think that this one is actually a little more entertaining.  In addition to featuring cool music, it also scores points for creative use of orange juice.

The Kansas City Public Library decided to do something interesting with their parking garage.  In 2004, they transformed an otherwise unattractive parking structure into an artistic landmark in downtown Kansas City, Missouri.  Now known as the Community Bookshelf, this mural resembles 22 giant books arranged as if they were lined up on a bookshelf.  The book spines are made entirely of signboard mylar and measure approximately 25 feet by 9 feet.  The titles featured on the bookshelf represent a wide variety of reading interests as suggested by Kansas City readers and then selected by The Kansas City Public Library Board of Trustees.  Some represented book titles include Catch-22 by Joseph Heller, Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury, To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, and The Lord of the Rings by J. R. R. Tolkien.

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