2023-01-07 simplest oblique
2022-11-23 Diamonds/squares
2022-09-15 Relative motion
2022-03-01 Size Constancy
2021-12-16 curved lines
More…2015-10 | Fernsehen SWR1 “Leute” |
2015-04 | Schweizer Fernsehen |
2012-03 | Focus 1 |
2012-03 | Focus 2 |
2012-03 | Focus 3 |
2012-03 | Focus 4 |
2011-07 | Demand from China so high that my domain was down a day |
2009-10 | in abc News |
2008-09 | portrayed by Die ZEIT |
2008-04 | referenced by NY Times |
2007-11 | portrayed in fudder |
2007-11 | daVinci–3sat |
2007-10 | Planetarium Freiburg |
2007-06 | Bayerisches Fernsehen |
2006-09 | Dugg |
2006-08 | Focus online |
2005-10 | PC Magazine |
2005-08 | BBC Online |
2005-08 | the Mac Observer |
2005-07 | Planetarium Freiburg |
2005-06 | a > 2 million hits/days spike |
2005-05 | “Image of the week” by Viperlib |
2005-05 | ≥ 1 million hits/day |
2005-02 | “Web Pick” by Yahbooks |
2004-12 | 10 cool sites award |
2004-11 | TV–Discoveries |
2004-11 | NSDL Reports Life Sci |
2004-10 | Highlighted in Science |
2004-10 | ≥ 500 |
2004-09 | Wikipedia |
2004-03 | Nürnberger Nachrichten |
2004-03 | Brainweek |
2004 | Yahoo Directory |
2003-09 | ≥ 100 |
They also teach us about our visual perception and its limitations. My selection here emphazises beauty and interactive experiments; I also attempt explanations of the underlying visual mechanisms where possible. Returning visitor? Check →here for History/News
»Optical illusion« sounds derogative, as if exposing a malfunction of the visual system. Rather, I view these phenomena as highlighting particular good adaptations of our visual system to its experience with standard viewing situations, confronted with an atypical situation. These experiences are based on normal visual conditions, and thus under unusual contexts can lead to inappropriate interpretations of a visual scene (=“Bayesian interpretation of perception”).
If you are not a vision scientist, you might find my explanations too highbrow. That is not on purpose, but vision research simply is not trivial, like any science. So, if an explanation seems gibberish, simply enjoy the phenomenon 😉.
NO. The web is full of claims that your personality (right- or left brain dominated, intro- vs. extroverted, stressed or sublime, or whatnot…) can be deduced from your ability to see some given illusion. However, there is no reliable scientific data that suggests this. That’s just click-baiting BS. There is some influence of age, though – but you don’t need illusions to know your age… So: Don’t let it irk you if you don’t see all the phenomena described. For many illusions, there is a percentage of people with perfectly normal vision who don’t see them, mostly for reasons currently unknown.
Bach & Poloschek (2006) Optical Illusions Primer (PDF, 2 pages from ACNR); on the programming: Bach 2014 (paywalled, contact me for a PDF).
Michael Bach (2022)
Optische Täuschungen und andere außergewöhnliche Sehphänomene
128 Seiten, 118 Abbildungen, Format: 240 × 170 mm
Preis: € 27,80, ISBN: 978-3-942825-97-9, Errata
Kaden-Verlag (Leseprobe) | Hugendubel | buchhandel.de | buecher.de