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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

Impossible wooden cube — A real wooden construction looks like an impossible cube from one view.

Impossible wooden cube

Wmccallie

A real wooden construction looks like an impossible cube from one view.

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Burning Ship Fractal — A variation of complex iteration produces forms reminiscent of ships and towers.

Burning Ship Fractal

Michael Michelitsch and Otto E. Rössler

A variation of complex iteration produces forms reminiscent of ships and towers.

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Reutersvärd’s triangle — A triangle of blocks recalls Reutersvärd’s pioneering impossible figure.

Reutersvärd’s triangle

Oscar Reutersvärd; modern drawing by László Németh

A triangle of blocks recalls Reutersvärd’s pioneering impossible figure.

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Checkerboard and cylinder casting a shadow, with squares A and B labeled.

Checker shadow

Edward H. Adelson

Two squares. One shade of gray. A shadow changes everything.

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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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The Vegetable Gardener — A bowl of vegetables becomes a face when the image is turned upside down.

The Vegetable Gardener

Giuseppe Arcimboldo

A bowl of vegetables becomes a face when the image is turned upside down.

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Two straight parallel lines crossing a background of radiating lines.

Hering illusion

Ewald Hering

Straight lines bow against a radiating background.

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Bezold Effect — The same red changes character when surrounded by black or white.

Bezold Effect

Wilhelm von Bezold

The same red changes character when surrounded by black or white.

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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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Enlarged image from the selected gallery entry