A really amazing optical illusion

This is really, really cool. Follow the instructions above the picture and prepare to be amazed!

http://www.ebaumsworld.com/castle-illusion.html#

When I first moused over, I thought it was a joke and they were really showing a color photo.

Probably some complicated thing about how the human brain percieves color, or something.

and the image "burns" itself on to your retina, in the same way that looking at the sun leaves a temporary mark in your vision. This because the light receptors in your retina (called "rods" and "cones") become over-stimulated, and they lose their sensitivity temporarily.

The clever bit is this: the image you stare at for 30 seconds is the colour inverse of the illusory image. Notice, for example, that the sky is yellow. Yellow light is made up of a combination of red and green (just trust me on this, okay), so the "red" light receptors and the "green" receptors on your retina get over-stimulated. When you move your mouse over the image and the grayscale image is shown, your red and green cones are temporarily out of action. The blue cones are still working though, so you see a blue sky.

This is why you have to fix your stare at the dot - you need to burn the right image on to your retina for it to work. Notice that if you move your gaze off the dot, the illusion disappears.

Does that make any sense?

Thanks!

Well done - thank you for explaining that. :wow: again.

:hi:

It's the brain interpreting on it's own. Most people don't realize how little of the world around us we really are seeing from one instant to the next. there are MASSIVE wholes in our perception but the brain just chugs along and puts things where they are meant to be. in this case it absorbs the color of the iamge first, and then when by putting the image up there it 'mixes' the two together. When you move your eyes, the brain adjusts and starts creating new 'images' around you to look at. As long as you don't move your eyes though it'll keep all the data together in one place.

Very cool.

it exploits a characteristic of your retina. This particular illusion occurs in your eye rather than in your mind.

...of the American flag:



...but with the clever addition of a greyscale image.

:-)

:wow:

:cry:

Just 'cuz I think it's so cool. :)