The Dual Axis Illusion appears to defy logic. It was created by Frank Force and beat out many great optical illusions to claim first place at the 2019 Best Illusion of the Year Contest. The spinning shape seems to rotate around both a horizontal and vertical axis simultaneously. To add to the confusion, the direction […]

Charlie Chaplin made his name as a comic actor in silent films During his illustrious career, he directed eleven films including hits such as City Lights, The Gold Rush, Modern Times, The Great Dictator, and The Kid. In this video, Charlie changes it up a bit and plays the role of an optical illusion. A […]

Here is the latest work from professor Akiyoshi Kitaoka, who is never one to disappoint when it comes to creating innovative relative motion illusions. The orange rings in this optical illusion appear to rotate against the purple background. (via Akiyoshi Kitaoka)

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 […]

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. […]

This animation of an impossible ribbon was created by Erwin Bonsma.  Depending on how you look at it, this ribbon can be perceived as rotating in two different ways.  He credits the original idea to M.C. Escher’s print titled “Cube with Magic Ribbons” which happens to be the first drawing by Escher to feature a […]

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 […]