THIS optical illusion is sure to make your head spin.
It represents two rotating rings composed of six egg-shaped points. The rings appear to move at different speeds.
However, they both rotate at the same speed.
The illusion was posted on Twitter by a Japanese psychologist and artist on October 8. Akiyoshi Kitaoka.
They wrote: “The right ring appears to spin faster than the left, even though the speed is the same.”
The eye trick is the result of the dots on the right ring glowing as they spin.
If you look closely, they go from black to white with sweeping movements from right to left.
This gives the illusion of speed or acceleration, making the ring appear to spin faster than its counterpart on the left.
It only works because there is a non-blinking ring visible next to it.
One way to “hack” the illusion is to look at both rings at once, then cover the left one with your hand.
You’ll notice that the right ring seems to slow down, spinning more slowly than before.
Twitter users reacted enthusiastically to Kitaoka’s post.
One wrote: “You tweet great stuff.”
Akiyoshi Kitaoka is a professor of experimental psychology and an expert on illusions at Ritsumeikan University in Japan.
With his 50,000 followers on Twitter, he regularly shares optical illusions he has found or created.
Illusions are often just for fun, but they also have real value to scientists.
Brain puzzles help researchers shed light on the inner workings of the mind and how it reacts to the environment.
Dr. Gustav Kuhn, a psychologist and expert in human perception at Goldsmiths University in London, told the Sun earlier this year that illusions are important to our understanding of the brain.
“We tend to take perception for granted and rarely think about the hard work that underpins everyday tasks, like seeing a cup of coffee in front of us,” he said.
“Visual illusions highlight misperceptions and provide important information about the hidden neural processes that allow us to see the world around us.”
Learn more about science
Do you want to know more about the weird and wonderful world of science? From the moon to the human body, we’ve got you covered…
We pay for your stories! Have a story for The Sun Online science and technology team? Email us at [email protected]
Categories: Optical Illusion
Source: newstars.edu.vn