The blue and yellow circles made up of what look like bicycle chains appear to spontaneously rotate.  Try focusing your attention on only one of the six circles at a time and you should find that the one you are focusing on stops moving.  If you want to maximize the motion effect, move your eyes […]

This purple circle created by Akiyoshi Kitaoka appears to wobble and pulsate as you look at it.  Try focusing on the gray dot int he center of the image and then moving your head around.  You will find that the circle appears to be very unstable against the black background. (via Akiyoshi Kitaoka)

The green circle in the center of this image, which Professor Akiyoshi Kitaoka calls a “watermelon”, appears to sway back and forth and be unstable against the gray background.  I personally find this image to be difficult to look at for too long.  This one actually makes my eyes hurt! Another good example of this […]

When it comes to motion illusions, it is safe to say that no one does it better than Professor Akiyoshi Kitaoka from Ritsumeikan University in Kyoto, Japan.  If you look at the two multi-colored rings below, which Professor Kitaoka calls “Swimming Rings”, you will notice that they both appear to rotate in a clockwise manner. […]

Have a look at today’s image that was created by Professor Akiyoshi Kitaoka from Ritsumeikan University in Kyoto, Japan.  We’ve posted images similar to this one in the past, but I thought that it was a pretty good representation of an old optical illusion concept.  Each of the rings are circles, even though they certainly […]

The circle in the center of this wavy yellow and purple pattern appears to move to the right while the background appears to moving to the left.  The motion effect on this one is incredibly strong for me.  I don’t know if it is the colors, or what, but it certainly seems like an animation […]

The orange and purple ring appears to rotate clockwise on the green background in a twitching or jerky manner.  The effect is enhanced if you move your eyes rapidly around the image or look away from it briefly and then focus on it again. Compare this effect to another motion illusion created by Professor Kitaoka […]