PDA

View Full Version : Look harder...



Moo2u
Jan 5, 2009, 01:53 AM
http://twobluecrabs.com/images/7bde18c668792c1f95a78c945f5b034d.jpg

AlexCraig
Jan 5, 2009, 02:16 AM
Interesting.

Nitro Vordex
Jan 5, 2009, 02:35 AM
I found that in my toilet once.

Thank spork it was before I sat down.

Shadowpawn
Jan 5, 2009, 02:54 AM
[SPOILER-BOX]An optical illusion (also called a visual illusion) is characterized by visually perceived (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Visual_perception) images that differ from objective reality. The information gathered by the eye is processed in the brain to give a percept (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Percept) that does not tally with a physical measurement of the stimulus source. There are three main types: literal optical illusions that create images that are different from the objects that make them, physiological ones that are the effects on the eyes and brain of excessive stimulation of a specific type (brightness, tilt, color, movement), and cognitive (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cognitive) illusions where the eye and brain make unconscious inferences.

Physiological illusions, such as the afterimages (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Afterimage) following bright lights or adapting stimuli of excessively longer alternating patterns (contingent perceptual aftereffect), are presumed to be the effects on the eyes or brain of excessive stimulation of a specific type - brightness, tilt, color, movement, etc. The theory is that stimuli have individual dedicated neural paths in the early stages of visual processing, and that repetitive stimulation of only one or a few channels causes a physiological (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Physiological) imbalance (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Imbalance) that alters perception.
The Hermann grid illusion (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grid_illusion) and Mach bands (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mach_bands) are two illusions that are best explained using a biological approach. Lateral inhibition (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lateral_inhibition), where in the receptive field (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Receptive_field) of the retina light and dark receptors compete with one another to become active, has been used to explain why we see bands of increased brightness at the edge of a color difference when viewing Mach bands. Once a receptor is active it inhibits adjacent receptors. This inhibition creates contrast, highlighting edges. In the Hermann grid illusion the gray spots appear at the intersection because of the inhibitory response which occurs as a result of the increased dark surround.[1] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Optical_illusion#cite_note-0) Lateral inhibition (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lateral_inhibition) has also been used to explain the Hermann grid illusion (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grid_illusion), but this has been disproved (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grid_illusion#The_cause_of_both_Scintillating_and_ Hermann_grid_illusions).


Cognitive illusions are assumed to arise by interaction with assumptions about the world, leading to "unconscious inferences", an idea first suggested in the 19th century by Hermann Helmholtz (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hermann_von_Helmholtz). Cognitive illusions are commonly divided into ambiguous illusions (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ambiguous_image), distorting illusions, paradox illusions, or fiction illusions.


Ambiguous illusions are pictures or objects that elicit a perceptual 'switch' between the alternative interpretations. The Necker cube (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Necker_cube) is a well known example; another instance is the Rubin vase (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rubin_vase).
Distorting illusions are characterized by distortions of size, length, or curvature. A striking example is the Café wall illusion (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caf%C3%A9_wall_illusion). Another example is the famous Müller-Lyer illusion (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M%C3%BCller-Lyer_illusion).
Paradox illusions are generated by objects that are paradoxical or impossible, such as the Penrose triangle (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Penrose_triangle) or impossible staircases (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Penrose_staircase) seen, for example, in M. C. Escher (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M._C._Escher)'s Ascending and Descending (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ascending_and_Descending) and Waterfall (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waterfall_%28M._C._Escher%29). The triangle is an illusion dependent on a cognitive misunderstanding that adjacent edges must join.
Fictional illusions are defined as the perception of objects that are genuinely not there to all but a single observer (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Observation), such as those induced by schizophrenia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schizophrenia) or a hallucinogen (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hallucinogen). These are more properly called hallucinations (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hallucinations).


Perceptual organization

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/74/Cup_or_faces_paradox.svg/200px-Cup_or_faces_paradox.svg.png (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Cup_or_faces_paradox.svg) http://upload.wikimedia.org/skins/common/images/magnify-clip.png (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Cup_or_faces_paradox.svg)
Reversible figure and vase


http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/45/Duck-Rabbit_illusion.jpg/180px-Duck-Rabbit_illusion.jpg (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Duck-Rabbit_illusion.jpg) http://upload.wikimedia.org/skins/common/images/magnify-clip.png (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Duck-Rabbit_illusion.jpg)
Duck-Rabbit illusion


To make sense of the world it is necessary to organize incoming sensations into information which is meaningful. Gestalt psychologists (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gestalt_psychology) believe one way this is done is by perceiving individual sensory stimuli as a meaningful whole.[2] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Optical_illusion#cite_note-Myers-1) Gestalt organization can be used to explain many illusions including the Duck-Rabbit illusion where the image as a whole switches back and forth from being a duck then being a rabbit and why in the figure-ground (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Figure-ground_%28perception%29) illusion the figure and ground are reversible.
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/55/Kanizsa_triangle.svg/180px-Kanizsa_triangle.svg.png (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Kanizsa_triangle.svg) http://upload.wikimedia.org/skins/common/images/magnify-clip.png (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Kanizsa_triangle.svg)
Kanizsa triangle


In addition, Gestalt theory can be used to explain the illusory contours (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Illusory_Contours) in the Kanizsa Triangle (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kanizsa_triangle). A floating white triangle, which does not exist, is seen. The brain has a need to see familiar simple objects and has a tendency to create a "whole" image from individual elements.[2] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Optical_illusion#cite_note-Myers-1) Gestalt means "form" or "shape" in German. However, another explanation of the Kanizsa Triangle is based in evolutionary psychology (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evolutionary_psychology) and the fact that in order to survive it was important to see form and edges. The use of perceptual organization to create meaning out of stimuli is the principle behind other well-known illusions including impossible objects (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Impossible_objects). Our brain makes sense of shapes and symbols putting them together like a jigsaw puzzle, formulating that which isn't there to that which is believable.
[edit (http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Optical_illusion&action=edit&section=5)] Depth and motion perception

Illusions can be based on an individual's ability to see in three dimensions even though the image hitting the retina is only two dimensional. The Ponzo illusion (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ponzo_illusion) is an example of an illusion which uses monocular cues of depth perception to fool the eye.
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/02/Ponzo_illusion.gif (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Ponzo_illusion.gif) http://upload.wikimedia.org/skins/common/images/magnify-clip.png (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Ponzo_illusion.gif)
Ponzo Illusion


In the Ponzo illusion the converging parallel lines (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parallel_%28geometry%29) tell the brain that the image higher in the visual field (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Visual_field) is further away therefore the brain perceives the image to be larger, although the two images hitting the retina are the same size. The Optical illusion seen in a diorama (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diorama)/false perspective (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/False_perspective) also exploits assumptions based on monocular cues of depth perception (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Depth_perception). The M. C. Escher (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M._C._Escher) painting Waterfall (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waterfall_%28M._C._Escher%29) exploits rules of depth and proximity and our understand of the physical world to create an illusion.
Like depth perception (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Depth_perception), motion perception (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motion_perception) is responsible for a number of sensory illusions. Film animation (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Animation) is based on the illusion that the brain perceives a series of slightly varied images produced in rapid succession as a moving picture. Likewise, when we are moving, as we would be while riding in a vehicle, stable surrounding objects may appear to move. We may also perceive a large object, like an airplane, to move more slowly, than smaller objects, like a car, although the larger object is actually moving faster. The Phi phenomenon (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phi_phenomenon) is yet another example of how the brain perceives motion, which is most often created by blinking lights in close succession.

[edit (http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Optical_illusion&action=edit&section=6)] Color and brightness constancies

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/1e/Gradient-optical-illusion.svg/180px-Gradient-optical-illusion.svg.png (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Gradient-optical-illusion.svg) http://upload.wikimedia.org/skins/common/images/magnify-clip.png (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Gradient-optical-illusion.svg)
Simultaneous Contrast Illusion. The horizontal grey bar is the same shade throughout


http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/27/ColourIllusion2.jpg/180px-ColourIllusion2.jpg (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:ColourIllusion2.jpg) http://upload.wikimedia.org/skins/common/images/magnify-clip.png (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:ColourIllusion2.jpg)
In this illusion, the second card from the left seems to be a stronger shade of pink in the top picture. In fact they are the same colour, but the brain changes its assumption about colour due to the colour cast of the surrounding photo.


Perceptual constancies are sources of illusions. Color constancy (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Color_constancy) and brightness constancy are responsible for the fact that a familiar object will appear the same color regardless of the amount of or colour of light reflecting from it. An illusion of color or contrast difference can be created when the luminosity or colour of the area surrounding an unfamiliar object is changed. The contrast of the object will appear darker against a black field which reflects less light compared to a white field even though the object itself did not change in color. Similarly, the eye will compensate for colour contrast depending on the colour cast of the surrounding area.

[edit (http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Optical_illusion&action=edit&section=7)] Object consistencies

Like color, the brain has the ability to understand familiar objects as having a consistent shape or size. For example a door is perceived as rectangle regardless as to how the image may change on the retina as the door is opened and closed. Unfamiliar objects, however, do not always follow the rules of shape constancy and may change when the perspective is changed. The Shepard illusion of the changing table is an example of an illusion based on distortions in shape constancy.

[edit (http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Optical_illusion&action=edit&section=8)] Future perception

Researcher Mark Changizi of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rensselaer_Polytechnic_Institute) in New York says optical illusions are due to a neural lag which most humans experience while awake. When light hits the retina, about one-tenth of a second goes by before the brain translates the signal into a visual perception of the world. Scientists have known of the lag, yet they have debated over how humans compensate, with some proposing that our motor system somehow modifies our movements to offset the delay.
Changizi asserts that the human visual system has evolved to compensate for neural delays, generating images of what will occur one-tenth of a second into the future. This foresight enables human to react to events in present. This allows humans to perform reflexive acts like catching a fly ball and to maneuver smoothly through a crowd. [3] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Optical_illusion#cite_note-Bryner-2) Illusions occur when our brains attempt to perceive the future, and those perceptions don't match reality. For example, one illusion called the Hering illusion (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hering_illusion), looks like bike spokes around a central point, with vertical lines on either side of this central, so-called vanishing point. The illusion tricks us into thinking we are moving forward, and thus, switches on our future-seeing abilities. Since we aren't actually moving and the figure is static, we misperceive the straight lines as curved ones.
Chnagizi said:

"Evolution has seen to it that geometric drawings like this elicit in us premonitions of the near future. The converging lines toward a vanishing point (the spokes) are cues that trick our brains into thinking we are moving forward - as we would in the real world, where the door frame (a pair of vertical lines) seems to bow out as we move through it - and we try to perceive what that world will look like in the next instant." [3] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Optical_illusion#cite_note-Bryner-2)
[/SPOILER-BOX]

Larian
Jan 5, 2009, 03:32 AM
My head hurts!! =/

Vanzazikon
Jan 5, 2009, 06:09 AM
Nice! I like the jebus one the best.

Moo2u
Jan 5, 2009, 10:22 AM
Shadowpawn like himself some wiki knowledge!