What Is An Optical Illusion?
Optical illusions are usually visual images or videos that tend to be deceiving to the brain and therefore play tricks on your eyes. This is based on numerous scientific factors including varying colors, certain patterns, lights, and much more. When looking at these images, a false sense of reality is created as the image our brain processes isn’t actually what is in front of us. Ask certain loved ones what they see in these optical illusions. Chances are, they’ll see something completely different!
50 Optical Illusions
- Walking a Fine Line Feast your eyes on this optical illusion! These lines seem skewed but they are actually parallel.
- Zigzag Mania No, the photo isn’t moving. The zigzag pattern and the cylinder shapes create this dizzying effect!
- A Tunnel Effect A checked background makes this tunnel seem endless.
- The Power of Makeup Just by using the proper makeup and brushes, you can create this optical illusion. Take a peek at YouTube videos like these to get started.
- She Walks on Skyscrapers The shading in this photo gives certain elements in this photo a 3D effect.
- Spiraling Downwards If you stare at the center of this optical illusion, your eyes will trick you into thinking the area around it is moving!
- Rubin’s Vase This is a classic optical illusion example! Some people see a vase, others see two faces.
- It’s All About Perspective For this fun photo trick, the photographer put the dinosaur near the camera, set a self-timer, and then ran to a further distance to pull this optical illusion!
- Seeing Double Because of the reflection, this building looks mirrored!
- Over the Rainbow This image has been digitally generated to create a 3D holographic effect.
- Ripple Effect When you take a peek at this optical illusion, you may see a ripple go through the image. This is because of the seamless pattern of circles.
- Pixel Art If you squint, you may be able to see a hidden picture because of the way these pixels are arranged.
- Abstract Wonderland Because of the shape and pattern, this optical illusion looks like the sphere is traveling around the hyperboloid.
- Endless Stairs This optical illusion was originally created by one of the original graphic designers, M.C. Escher.
- Penrose Triangle This optical illusion is also called the “Impossible Triangle” because it can be depicted in a perspective drawing, but cannot exist as a solid object.
- Just Stare at the Red Square If you stare at the red square for the entire length of this video, you’re in for a crazy optical illusion once you look away!
- Rolling Pattern Because of its blue and white pattern, this optical illusion gives a rolling effect.
- You Are Getting Very Sleepy Usually used in hypnosis gags, the spiral pattern plus the color scheme gives this optical illusion a 3D effect.
- Lights and Shadows Just by using the right composition, your photos on Instagram can create dizzying optical illusions like this one!
- Cat vs. Optical Illusion A cat expresses caution as he tries to figure out what he’s seeing! This pattern and color scheme, makes the cat look like he’s hovering above an endless tunnel. View this post on Instagram
A post shared by Art ???? (@artswonderful) 21. Is it a Rabbit or a Duck? Yet another popular optical illusion! Some people swear they see a rabbit while others say it’s clearly the head of a duck. 22. What Color is this Dress? This optical illusion caused quite the debate back in the day! Is this dress blue and black or white and gold? After causing quite a stir, it came out that the dress was, indeed, blue and black. 23. Secret Messages If you squint your eyes and move your head in different directions, you should be able to see a secret message in this optical illusion! 24. “It’s Just an Illusion, Darling!” Believe it or not, this optical illusion can be created with makeup! Follow @deepseana to find out how. 25. Look Closely! This optical illusion may look like one thing, but if you look closely, you’ll find another image entirely! How many pictures can you make out? 26. Look at the White Dot If you want to experience what Alice went through as she fell through the rabbit hole, give this optical illusion a try. When you look away, you’ll experience vision twists and the room will grow and or shrink. 27. Vector Optical Illusion With this zigzag stripe pattern, this globe looks like it’s rotating! 28. The Sinking Building In Montmartre, a district in Paris, you’ll find a grassy hill near the Sacre Coeur church. When you approach it, pull out your cameras because you’ll stumble upon this famous real-life optical illusion! 29. The Pyramid Effect If you stare at the center of this square-shaped optical illusion, you’ll feel like you’re staring at the top of a 3D pyramid. 30. Swirling Rainbows If you squint your eyes, you’ll be able to see a rainbow effect between the red and white lines! 31. Impossible Trident Coined by D.H. Schuster in 1964, this optical illusion appears to have three prongs at the end, but at the top, it clearly is only split in two. Also known as the Devil’s Tuning Fork, this shape is indeed impossible because it violates the rules of Euclidean geometry! 32. Ebbinghaus illusion Fun Fact: Those two balls in the middle are actually the same size! Called the Ebbinghaus Illusion, this optical trick happens because our brain uses context in order to judge size. Since the circle on the left is surrounded by smaller circles, the brain thinks it’s larger than a circle surrounded by much larger circles. 33. Hermann Grid Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but you’re actually not seeing those black dots in between those squares. But, don’t worry, you’re not going crazy– this phenomenon is the result of a neural process called lateral inhibition. Basically, when a lot of light is let into a neuron in your eyes (like the white lines), the neurons can’t process all of it, so black dots appear. 34. How Many Legs Does This Elephant Have? Does counting the legs on this mammoth animal give you a headache? You’re not alone! The reason it’s hard to figure out is that the original artist left the natural space for the feet blank, instead of drawing the feet in the spaces between the legs. If you want to figure out the answer, just cover the elephant’s feet with your hand! 35. Kanizsa Triangle Named after Gaetano Kanizsa, this optical illusion actually contains no triangles! Your brain simply fills in the gaps in between the line segments and the black circles and assumes there should be a triangle there. 36. The Boring Figure Getting its name from Edwin Boring, who wrote a paper about this drawing in 1930, the original artist has depicted both his wife and his mother-in-law in one drawing. Hint: The choker is the mouth of the mother-in-law! 37. Marilyn Einstein Did you know this optical illusion can help optometrists diagnose eye problems? If you can see Marilyn Monroe at a comfortable reading distance, you may need glasses! 38. Disappearing Cheshire Cat Also known as the Troxler Effect, if you stare at the X for about 20 seconds, the Cheshire Cat will completely disappear. The popular literature character fades away because of the eye’s tendency to prioritize. If you focus on the X, all other distractions in your peripheral vision will fade away. 39. Ames Room Illusion Would you believe these people are actually the same size? This popular optical illusion has been used in popular movies like The Lord of the Rings. 40. The Ponzo Illusion When you look off into the distance of this optical illusion, the lines seem closer together as they become further away. The Ponzo Illusion has two lines over an illustration of what seems to be a railroad track. Which line is longer? Trick question! They’re actually the same length. 41. Zollner Illusion Did you know the lines that appear diagonal are actually parallel? They appear this way because the background of an image can interfere with how your brain interprets the image itself! 42. Spinning Dancer Illusion In this infamous optical illusion, the dancer seems to change direction but do you know how? It’s all based on our bistable perception. The reason why we believe the dancer moves is because our brains are trying to create space around her. 43. The Shoe Back in 2015, this shoe caused another “what color is it” debate. Many people saw teal and grey while others saw pink and white. In reality, the shoe ended up being pink and white. Your perception of the shoe’s color depends on your individual sensitivity to the lighting in the image. 44. Kendall Jenner’s Missing Leg When InStyle posted this on their Instagram of this powerful girl squad, people were quick to point out Kendall Jenner’s missing leg. However, her left leg was just hidden underneath her dress. 45. Rotating Boxes This box has to be spinning on the spot, right? Actually, that’s not quite the case! It is totally and completely still, with this optical illusion caused by the flashing background. 46. Negative Photo Effect Just fixate your gaze at the white dot, you’ll see a masterpiece of color later on! Trust us, it’ll be worth it. 47. The Cornsweet Effect Watch this video for long enough and you’ll see the flickering circles in your peripheral vision appear to be moving even though they are standing absolutely still. This optical illusion is based on the Cornsweet effect, which is what happens when the brain fills in information based on slight changes in gradient and color. 48. Star Wars Opening Credits This optical illusion is iconic for so many reasons mainly because it’s used in Star Wars films! In the beginning, though, this process was extremely difficult for George Lucas and his team to pull off. Large physical models had to be developed that were two feet wide and six feet long with the text on them. The models were laid out on the floor so that a low camera could move along the text to create the crawling effect! 49. Color Illusion Floors can add a lot of pizzazz to a home—but they can also say a thing or two about the colors of your walls! Depending on the coloring, your floors can turn a color either a pewter grey or a robin’s egg blue. 50. True Cyan Stare at the white dot for the entire length of this video and you’ll see what the true color of cyan looks like! Check out…Lateral Thinking PuzzlesRebus PuzzlesLogic Puzzles
