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The Circles Don't Move
- in3d 6y agoMore than you wanted to know about the Reversed Phi illusion: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phi_phenomenon https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phi_phenomenon https://jov.arvojournals.org/article.aspx?articleid=2121864 https://jov.arvojournals.org/article.aspx?articleid=2121864 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6661801/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6661801/
- patcon 6y agoIt seems it may also leverage the "perpetual diamond" illusion that made the rounds last year, which mostly has to do with gradients on edges: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/2041669518815708 https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/20416695188157...
- egypturnash 6y agoThere is a line on the inside and outside of the circles where the colors go in and out of sync with the circle as the arrows change directions - it snaps between trailing by half the length of the color segments, going being ahead by the same amount, or in sync. When the outer edge of a part of the circle is trailing and the inner edge is ahead, the circle appears to move outwards; reverse this and it appears to move inwards. The parts where the circle appears to be moving up/down/left/right have one side set to the 'outwards' motion, the opposite side set to the 'inwards' motion, and the other sides in sync. The human visual cortex has so, so many edge cases like this. It's wonderful!
- bucket2015 6y agoYeah, my first guess is the movement of that faint inner line triggers the Parasol cells or some other movement detection cells in our retina (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parasol_cell https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parasol_cell). Possible underlying circuit: https://www.cell.com/neuron/pdf/S0896-627318%2930105-3.pdf https://www.cell.com/neuron/pdf/S0896-627318%2930105-3.pdf
- astrocat 6y agowhat I found fascinating is that the effect is maintained even when you're not focused (like lens focus, not attention focus) on the circles. If you let your eyes relax their focus to a point beyond the screen, the blurry circles maintain the illusion. And bonus points if you find the focal point where a third circle is in the middle which is a composite of both the left and right circles, and... it doesn't move. I don't know how to better explain the effects of letting your eyes wander out of focus and the artifacts it creates in your vision, but I'm sure someone will get it.
- kiddico 6y agoTook me a while to get an overlapping 3rd circle. Feels almost normal on the left/right moving ones, but when the grow/shrink stage comes my brain has no idea what to do with the arrows. The arrows looked like they were both pointing in and out, sometimes flipping between them really fast. Somehow the right side is slightly out of focus, but the left is sharp. I think I had each eye at a different focal point. Is that possible? lol
- shreddit 6y agoIt sure is. It’s also quite interesting that i have to get very close to the screen to create that third circle, but then can get quite far without loosing it, even when looking at the right or left circle.
- enricozb 6y agoThis makes much more sense. I thought that my brain was unconsciously interpreting the meaning of the arrows, which was completely unbelievable to me.
- kiddico 6y agoI was thinking the same, covered the arrow with my thumb... didn't help at all.
- tsar_nikolai 6y agoThis shows the circles without the inner circles: https://twitter.com/i/status/1331542934056001536 https://twitter.com/i/status/1331542934056001536 And this with stabilized rotation: https://twitter.com/spacecatmeowart/status/1331695681745149952 https://twitter.com/spacecatmeowart/status/13316956817451499... Super cool effect! This is the type of magic trick that becomes cooler as you learn more about it.
- jvanderbot 6y agoI covered up the arrows and the effect lingered. That blew my mind.
- isoprophlex 6y agoTheres a very faint outline around the circles that controls perceived motion. If you pause the vid it becomes noticeable...
- gnulinux 6y agoMe too, and I'm pretty sure they actually do move. When I place something on my screen covering the arrows, I can see circles moving (since the shape of the gap between covering and edge of circle changes). EDIT: Or at least something in the edge changes.
- 8note 6y agoThe edge gets darker. Id consider that to be a subpixel movement
- thih9 6y agoI’d love to see a version of this illusion with less compression. Does anyone have a higher quality link?
- IvyMike 6y agoPart of what you think are compression artifacts-- the thin layer of "wrong" pixels-- are actually key to the illusion. That being said, yes there are still some compression issues. Another copy here: https://gfycat.com/enchantedclearcutblackfish https://gfycat.com/enchantedclearcutblackfish
- pavon 6y agoI love how the compression artifacts are acting like a magician's sleight of hand, obscuring the changes to the border of the circle that create the illusion.
- thih9 6y ago> Part of what you think are compression artifacts I know what are compression artefacts and what is part of the illusion, no need to explain that to me. I just wanted to see the less compressed version. It's a nice effect and others might find your comment useful, I just wanted to say that there was no reason to address your explanation to me.
- miloignis 6y agohttps://twitter.com/jagarikin/status/1331409504953540613 https://twitter.com/jagarikin/status/1331409504953540613 This one was link to by a MIT Media lab guy
- rendall 6y agoIf you lay a straightedge along the top of the circles, they do not remain aligned. It seems that the circles do move
- enneff 6y agoYou can use another window as a straightedge. :)
- rendall 6y agoYeah anything straight, really
- rendall 6y agoI got downvoted for pointing out the circles actually move? Weird.
- dragontamer 6y agohttps://twitter.com/Jakesaurius/status/1331543133910396929 https://twitter.com/Jakesaurius/status/1331543133910396929 The circles do not move. The outer most layer of pixels however, changes color, giving the illusion that they're moving. Once you understand how the "outer-rim of pixels" contributes to the illusion, it all makes sense.
- rendall 6y ago
- hfjrifjtjt 6y agoA bit disappointed that the arrows are not what is driving this (see other comments). But would it be possible to have a "semantic optical illussion"? Was any such thing discovered?
- gmiller123456 6y agoI thought it might be the arrows creating the illusion, so I covered them with my thumbs and it still worked.
- ASalazarMX 6y agoSomething like the lines with different arrows? If not, please refrain for inventing cognitive hazards until 2021, please. https://gpuzzles.com/optical-illusion/length-of-lines/ https://gpuzzles.com/optical-illusion/length-of-lines/
- Nition 6y agoIt's possible to suggest a direction for the spinning dancer illusion.[1] I don't have an example for you that actually has cues included, but you can do it with some success in your own mind. Decide you want to see it spinning clockwise, then look at it. Now look away, and tell yourself it's going to be spinning anti-clockwise, then look at it again. I now that's not quite what you wanted, but I imagine you could achieve a similar result by showing a clockwise/anticlockwise cue on the image itself. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Spinning_Dancer.gif https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Spinning_Dancer.gif
- phaedrus 6y agoThis needs a memetic hazard warning! I had just eaten, and the linked illusion caused me instant nausea/motion sickness, which has not gone away after hiding the browser tab.
- ragh_5 6y agoLook at it from the side angle, and the circles don't move!
- nuclearsugar 6y agoThis needs a SCP number.
- pvorb 6y agoIf you like optical illusions, I recommend visiting http://illusionoftheyear.com/ http://illusionoftheyear.com/ when you have some spare time.
- bamboleo 6y agoThis is fake. Cover both the arrows and you’ll still see them move in the exact direction that the arrow suggests when you uncover it. The movement is of 1px at best but it’s there.
- bamboleo 6y agoYou downvoted me, why don’t you try for yourself? Keep them covered for a minute so you’re sure that your brain isn’t messing with you, then look again and you’ll see it.
- fragsworth 6y agoYou are 100% right, this is fake and garbage. The circles DO move.
- fragsworth 6y agoActually, I lied, they don't move... checked again
- MrPatan 6y agoThe thing is, you are not wrong. It is fake. It's an illusion! And very true, covering the arrow does nothing to prevent the illusion.
- danfang 6y agoNope. See the version with the lines. https://twitter.com/Jakesaurius/status/1331543133910396929 https://twitter.com/Jakesaurius/status/1331543133910396929 The illusion has nothing to do with the arrows, but the circles still don't move.
- cbsks 6y agoHuh? The circles move just a few pixels that are hidden by the thickness of the lines, but they definitely move.
- sebastien_b 6y agoEither the compression is changing the circles a bit, or they do in fact move - I’ve held a piece of paper covering all but a slight edge of a circle (obscuring everything else) and I can see the edge expanding/moving ever so slightly. Still not enough to call BS on the illusion, but it might actually help “augment” it a bit.