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Optical illusions & the art of seeing

Explore optical illusions, impossible objects and illusion art with pictures, viewing instructions and explanations. Follow the science and history behind each example, from classic visual puzzles to fractals and camouflage in nature and human design.

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The collection

A person crouches beside a colourful pavement painting that appears to open into a deep landscape.

Pandora

Tracy Lee Stum, an American artist

You should have the visual experience of a man riding a mythical bird. However, although the man is real, the bird is just a cleverly constructed 2D drawing on the pavement.

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A wooden bowl on white illustrating the tactile aftereffect article.

Tactile Aftereffect

I.M. Vogels Vogels, A. M., Kappers and J.J. Koenderink J. J. (1996)

When you press your hands to the flat surface you should experience the flat surface as curved for a few seconds.

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An animated red-and-green ring with striped surfaces whose apparent depth can reverse.Moving image

Ambiguous Ring

Donald E. Simanek

You should experience a sense of perceptual confusion as you note the paradoxical nature of the depicted ring.

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Andrus’s nuts and bolts — An arrangement of real nuts and bolts looks impossible from its chosen view.

Andrus’s nuts and bolts

Jerry Andrus; photograph by Sgerbic

An arrangement of real nuts and bolts looks impossible from its chosen view.

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The Librarian — A learned figure assembled from books and the equipment of reading.

The Librarian

Giuseppe Arcimboldo

A learned figure assembled from books and the equipment of reading.

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A white dove and an outlined cloud against a red field, used in a colour-adaptation demonstration.

The Colour Dove Illusion

Yuval Barkan and Hedva Spitzer

In the first few seconds you should notice that the dove appears red—a faint version of the red that was in the background of the first image. You are experiencing a positive afterimage…

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Four black-and-white striped squares with alternating horizontal and vertical orientations, used in the McCollough effect.

McCollough Effect

Celeste McCollough (1927 - 2023), American psychologist

The black and white test figure will have taken on an illusory tinge of colour - the horizontal white stripes appear tinged red, while the vertical stripes appear green.

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Sierpiński Carpet — A square becomes an endlessly nested lattice of holes.

Sierpiński Carpet

Wacław Sierpiński

A square becomes an endlessly nested lattice of holes.

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Vertumnus — Rudolf II appears as a face assembled from fruit, flowers, and vegetables.

Vertumnus

Giuseppe Arcimboldo

Rudolf II appears as a face assembled from fruit, flowers, and vegetables.

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A black-and-white drawing of a woman at a dressing table; her reflection and the surrounding objects also form a skull.

All Is Vanity

Charles Allan Gilbert (1873 – 1929), American illustrator

You should experience a 'Gestalt switch' - a change - as your experience flips between being of a woman and being of a skull.

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Orbison Illusion — Straight sides and a circle appear distorted over a radiating background.

Orbison Illusion

William Orbison

Straight sides and a circle appear distorted over a radiating background.

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Enlarged image from the selected gallery entry