Optical illusions have been around since before the dawn of the Internet, perplexing humans for decades. They are simply explained as a visual image that “tricks your eyes” by appearing to be something other than what it is. Here are 10 Optical Illusions to thrill and mess with your minds!
1) Lilac Chaser
Stare at the black cross in the middle of the image below for about 30 seconds. Notice anything happening? You may notice the lilac dots disappear and be replaced with a green one instead. This illusion is said to employ a concept called the “Troxxler Fading” and is related to motion and how our brain perceives it.
2) Skull or More?
At first sight, you will probably be struck by the eerie image of a skull. However, if you look beyond the big picture, you may see something a little different and far less sinister – a couple dining by an open window. Pretty cool, huh? It certainly teaches us to look closer at whatever we see.
3) The “Parrot”
Isn’t that a gorgeous parrot? Well, if only it was a parrot at all. It’s actually a woman! Look closely and you’ll notice it’s a woman covered in body paint, made out to look like a parrot. A work of art and an optical illusion, talk about killing two birds with one stone.
4) A Boxy Situation
What could be so unusual about this? It’s just two different coloured squares, right? That would be incorrect because both boxes are the same colour. All you have to do is place your finger on the line where the boxes join.
5) Ebbinghaus Illusion
This illusion is related to our perception of size. Believe it or not, both the orange circles are exactly the same size. The one on the left only seems to be smaller, but in fact our brains only perceive that to be so because of the surrounding visuals being smaller or larger. This is one you should definitely send to your friends as a trick.
6) Elephant Math
If you hate math, it’s time to turn around and walk away. If not, ponder upon this image and try to identify how many legs the elephant has. Stumped? Well, you may as well stop counting, because no amount of mathematical logic will help here. You will see more legs because the placement of the feet is in such a way that it will confuse your brain into thinking there are more legs. The only proper leg is the one at the back.
7) Round and Round
Nope, this is NOT a GIF image. So why exactly is it moving? Again, this is related to our eyes playing tricks on us. It’s not been determined why the eye perceives movement, and research is still being conducted on this. However, some seem to think it is because our eyes make small, rapid movements, and if we stare more intently at the image, the movement stops. Try it for yourself and see if that happens or not.
8) Find the iPhone
This is a fairly recent optical illusion that took social media by storm. Viewers are encouraged to look for a cell phone in the image – specifically an iPhone. It’s mind-boggling at first glance, but if you really want to exercise your peepers then this is a fun way to do so. And if you don’t mind a spoiler, keep your eyes peeled around the right leg of the white table and you just may find the iPhone.
9) Spot the Celebrity
You may need to look a little silly for this one, so maybe don’t do it in the office where your colleagues can see (and totally judge) you. At first glance it may just seem like a series of black dots but if you cross your eyes there will be a very famous person’s face visible. If you guessed Michael Jackson, you’re right!
10) The Spinning Dancer
This illusion is so popular, it has its own Wikipedia page where you can read up on its inception and the concept behind it. The Spinning Dancer was conceived in 2003 and has been tormenting people ever since. Which way do you think she’s spinning? It could go either way really, and sometimes even both ways.
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