Mind
9 optical illusions that will test your brain
Here at Over60, we love a good optical illusion. Whether it’s a two-in-one image, hidden object puzzle or mind-bending surreal paintings, there’s nothing better to kick your brain into gear than a trick photo or illustration.
Today, we’ll take a look at nine of our favourite optical illusions and the clever reasons behind why they’re so head-scratching. To see them, simply scroll through the gallery above.
- Ebbinghaus illusion – Which orange circle is bigger? As it turns out, neither – they’re the same size. We see the left one as smaller due to the comparative largeness of the blue circles, whereas we see the right one as larger due to the comparatively small blue circles.
- Jastrow illusion – While both shapes are identical sizes, when arranged in a certain formation, shape B appears much larger.
- Blivet – Also known as the “impossible trident,” no matter how much look at this shape or try to comprehend it, it simply cannot exist.
- White’s illusion – Take a look at the grey rectangles on each line. Does column A or B look darker? Neither – they’re exactly the same shade of grey. However, the surrounding colour makes the rectangles in column B appear lighter than those in column A.
- Peripheral drift illusion – Because of contrasts in the colours and shapes in this image, when we look slightly away from it, our peripheral vision (wrongly) detects movement.
- Hermann grid illusion – Looking at this image, it’s likely you’ll notice at least a few grey spots in the white intersections between black boxes. However, when you direct your vision to a spot, it disappears.
- Illusory rotating effect – Focus on the black spot at the centre of the circles. Without moving your focus, move you head to and from the screen. Can you see the circles rotating in opposite directions?
- Café wall illusion – At first glance, the lines between each row of black and white squares appear to be sloped, however they are actually completely parallel.
- Penrose stairs – Also called the “impossible staircase,” this image appears to show four flights of stairs going in the same vertical direction, yet if one were to use the staircase, they would only find themselves back where they started.
What’s your favourite optical illusion? Let us know in the comment section below.