
Image via Wikipedia
Some years ago I went to a big mall where there was taking place an informal exhibition. Several framed drawings were spreadĀ on a wall and on improvised cabinets. At first I thought I was looking at abstract drawings but than an assistant came to me and explained me what those were. She told me they were optical illusions.
At first I didn’t see nothing special, but after trying a few times I managed to get the technique of looking at those images and see something special. It’s amazing how our mind works and can transform one image in something else.
The imagine I’m showing on this post is one of the dozens shown on the website Grand Illusions and it’s called The Amazing Dots. So, how does it work?
Watch the X in the middle very closely. You should start to see a green dot that rotates around the circle – this dot is an illusion; then you should see see the purple dots disappear…. but they haven’t really gone. It is an after image effect, sometimes called a ‘negative retinal afterimage’ – move your head slightly, and the dots will reappear… amazing or what?
This illusion was designed by Jeremy L Hinton of Bristol, UK, and this illusion – with a lot more explanation and many other illusions as well – can be found at the web site of Michael Bach.
So, did you see the green dot and the purple dots disappearing? I did. Quite amazing, isn’t it?