Swans on Tea

Physics, tech and humor. Because science and learning are cool, and life’s too short not to laugh.

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Category: Illusions

Illusions: Tricking the Eye or Fooling the Brain?

13 November, 2008 (04:55) | Illusions, Other science | 1 comment

Optical illusions: caused by eye or brain?
For the past 200 years, researchers have debated whether the illusion of motion in a static image is caused by mechanisms in the eye, in the brain, or by a combination of both. Because measuring these kinds of physiological responses is difficult, no study has successfully measured direct and [...]

Have Some Perspective

27 October, 2008 (03:56) | Illusions | No comments

A Perspective on 3-D Visual Illusions
slideshow and article

Do Wah Diddy

9 October, 2008 (08:09) | Illusions | No comments

A different lean, mean fightin’ machine. Stroboscopic effect image.
Stripes

What Goes Up Must … Go Up

7 October, 2008 (08:07) | Illusions | 4 comments

An audio “illusion.” The pitch increases, and seems to continue when you replay the clip.
You need to a flashplayer enabled browser to view this YouTube video
This phenomenon is known as Shepard’s paradox; the ending tones are the same as the beginning ones, so it’s the auditory equivalent of Escher’s “Ascending and Descending” perpetual staircase.

The Shadow Knows

6 September, 2008 (19:58) | Illusions | No comments

Cool photo that’s not quite what it appears

Putting the Proper Spin on it

26 August, 2008 (03:55) | Illusions | No comments

Rotating Grid Illusion
Oh, way cool. A rotating grid looks like a bunch of smaller grids when you rotate it.

The Big Bonus Bag

23 July, 2008 (03:47) | Illusions | No comments

Dynamic Optical Illusions
Several cool ones, along with some standard ones.

The Camera Adds Ten pounds

6 July, 2008 (04:17) | Illusions, Physics, Tech | No comments

How many cameras are you wearing? (Chandler, to Monica)
candid camera, over at Cocktail Party Physics.
Richmond’s main hypothesis, however, was that the effect stems from the fact that the camera only has one “eye” (i.e., the lens), whereas human beings have two eyes, roughly 7 to 8 centimeters apart. The camera, it seems, lacks depth [...]

Hip to be Square

11 June, 2008 (03:44) | Illusions | No comments

Squaring the Diamond illusion at Illusion Sciences

Two-Minute Drill

27 May, 2008 (04:44) | Illusions, Video | No comments

10 optical illusions in 2 minutes
You need to a flashplayer enabled browser to view this YouTube video
via Neurophilosophy

Out of Business?

12 May, 2008 (03:45) | Illusions, Links | 2 comments

The illusion business. Posting them, that is. Too much direct competition: Illusion Sciences
Illusions and explanations, by an illusion designer and psychologist
Bonus: Illusion of the year contest, top 10 finalists
via Cognitive Daily

Antigravity Perfected

18 April, 2008 (05:38) | Illusions, Physics, Video | 3 comments

You need to a flashplayer enabled browser to view this YouTube video
Of course, the real explanation here is that this is a stroboscopic effect, aka the wagon wheel effect — the rotor speed and the film speed are matched (to some ratio) so there is no apparent movement of the blades for each frame of [...]

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