Optical illusions are nothing more than an optical illusion of our brain. After all, when we look at a picture, our eye sees one thing, but the brain begins to protest and claim that this is not at all what it is. So it turns out that illusions are created by our mind, which begins to analyze the color, the position of the light source, the location of edges or corners, etc. Thanks to this, the correction of visual images occurs.
Be careful! Some illusions can cause tearing, headaches and disorientation in space.

Invisible chair. The optical effect, which gives the viewer a false impression of the location of the seat, is due to the original design of the chair, invented by the French studio Ibride.

Volumetric Rubik's Cube. The drawing looks so realistic that there is no doubt that this is a real object. Twisting the piece of paper, it becomes obvious that this is just a deliberately distorted image.

This is not an animated gif. This is an ordinary picture, all elements of which are absolutely motionless. It is your perception that is playing with you. Hold your gaze for a few seconds at one point, and the picture will stop moving.

Look at the cross in the center. Peripheral vision turns beautiful faces into monsters.

Flying cube. What looks like a real cube floating in the air is actually a drawing on a stick.

Eye? A shot from photographer Liamm, who was filming a foam sink but soon realized it was an eye staring back at him.

Which direction does the wheel spin?

Hypnosis. Stare without blinking at the middle of the image for 20 seconds, and then move your gaze to someone’s face or just a wall.

Four circles. Be careful! This optical illusion can cause headaches lasting up to two hours.

Ordering squares. The four white lines appear to be moving randomly. But once you put images of squares on them, everything becomes quite natural.

The birth of animation. Animated images by overlaying a grid of black parallel lines on the finished drawing. Before our eyes, static objects begin to move.

The coolest optical illusions! They will help your brain switch gears and take your mind off things a bit, but be careful: as we know, overdosing on medication can be dangerous!

Simply collected here incredible collection modern optical illusion pictures with which you will spend time enjoying the tricks and sensations generated by your brain.

Optical illusion- an impression of a visible object or phenomenon that does not correspond to reality, i.e. optical illusion. Translated from Latin, the word “illusion” means “error, delusion.” This suggests that illusions have long been interpreted as some kind of malfunction in the visual system. Many researchers have been studying the causes of their occurrence.

Be careful!

Some illusions can cause tearing, headaches and disorientation in space.

Pulsating poster

At whatever point in the picture you focus your gaze, the picture never stops moving for a second.

Kaleidoscope

An illusion of movement based on the work of Akiyoshi Kitaoka, a professor of psychology at the University (Ritsumeikan) in Tokyo, world famous for his many illusions of movement.

Eye?

A shot from photographer Liamm, who was filming a foam sink but soon realized it was an eye staring back at him.

Four circles

Be careful! This optical illusion can cause headaches lasting up to two hours.

Ferris wheel

Which direction does the wheel spin?

Invisible chair

The optical effect, which gives the viewer a false impression of the location of the seat, is due to the original design of the chair, invented by the French studio Ibride.

Hypnosis

Stare without blinking at the middle of the image for 20 seconds, and then move your gaze to someone’s face or just a wall.

flying cube

What looks like a real cube floating in the air is actually a drawing on a stick.

The Birth of Animation

User brusspup creates animated images by overlaying a grid of black parallel lines over the finished drawing. Before our eyes, static objects begin to move.

Look at the cross in the center

Peripheral vision turns beautiful faces into monsters.

Ordering squares

The four white lines appear to be moving randomly. But once you put images of squares on them, everything becomes quite natural.

Volumetric Rubik's Cube

The drawing looks so realistic that there is no doubt that this is a real object. Twisting the piece of paper, it becomes obvious that this is just a deliberately distorted image.

Same or different?

How can two cigarettes be different and the same size at the same time?

This is not animation

This is not an animated gif. This is an ordinary picture, all elements of which are absolutely motionless. It is your perception that is playing with you. Hold your gaze for a few seconds at one point, and the picture will stop moving.

Aren't you tired? Then…

Brain explosion! Optical illusions on the verge of madness!

Endless chocolate

If you cut a chocolate bar 5 by 5 and rearrange all the pieces in the order shown, then out of nowhere an extra piece of chocolate will appear. Our readers have figured out the secret.

Black and white or color

If you look closely at a point in the center of a black and white image for 15 seconds, the picture takes on color.

Impossible elephant

Drawing by Roger Shepard.

Illusion of color

Without looking up, look at the cross and you will see how the purple spots turn green. And then they disappear completely.

Black and white illusion

Look at the four dots in the center of the picture for thirty seconds, then move your gaze to the ceiling and blink. What did you see?

Interior illusion

Chessboard squares

Optical illusion is an unreliable visual perception of any picture: incorrect assessment of the length of segments, the color of the visible object, the size of the angles, etc.

The reasons for such errors lie in the peculiarities of the physiology of our vision, as well as in the psychology of perception. Sometimes illusions can lead to completely incorrect quantitative estimates of specific geometric quantities.

Even looking carefully at the “optical illusion” picture, in 25 percent or more of cases you can make a mistake if you do not check your visual assessments with a ruler.

Pictures of optical illusion: size

So, for example, let's look at the following figure.

Pictures of optical illusion: circle size

Which of the circles located in the middle is larger?

Correct answer: the circles are the same.

Pictures of optical illusion: proportions

Which of the two people is taller: the dwarf on foreground or the person walking behind everyone?

Correct answer: they are the same height.

Pictures of optical illusion: length

The figure shows two segments. Which one is longer?

Correct answer: they are the same.

Pictures of optical illusion: pareidolia

One type of visual illusion is pareidolia. Pareidolia is an illusory perception of a specific object.

Unlike illusions of perception of length, depth, dual images, pictures with images that are specially created in order to provoke the occurrence of illusions, pareidolia can arise on their own when viewing the most ordinary objects. So, for example, sometimes when examining a pattern on wallpaper or a carpet, clouds, spots and cracks on the ceiling, you can see fantastic changing landscapes, unusual animals, people’s faces, etc.

The basis of various illusory images can be real details existing drawing. The first to describe such a phenomenon were Jaspers and Kahlbaumi (Jaspers K., 1913, Kahlbaum K., 1866;). Many pareidolic illusions can arise when perceiving well-known images. In this case, similar illusions can occur simultaneously in several people.

For example, in the following picture, which shows the World Trade Center building on fire. Many people can see the scary face of the devil on it.

The image of the devil can be seen in the next picture - the devil in the smoke


In the following picture you can easily distinguish a face on Mars (NASA, 1976). The play of shadow and light has given rise to many theories about ancient Martian civilizations. Interestingly, late photographs of this area of ​​Mars do not show a face.

And here you can see a dog.

Pictures of optical illusion: color perception

Looking at the drawing, you can observe the illusion of color perception.


In fact, the circles on different squares are the same shade of gray.

Looking at the following picture, answer the question: are the chess squares on which points A and B are the same or different colors?

It's hard to believe, but yes! Don't believe me? Photoshop will prove it to you.

How many colors are you drawing in the following picture?

There are only 3 colors - white, green and pink. You might think there are 2 shades of pink, but that's actually not the case.

What do these waves look like to you?

Are the brown stripe waves colored? But no! It's just an illusion.

Look at the following picture and say the color of each word.

Why is it so difficult? The fact is that one part of the brain is trying to read the word, while the other perceives the color.

Pictures of optical illusion: elusive objects

When looking at the following image, look at the black dot. After some time, the colored spots should go away.

Do you see the gray diagonal stripes?

If you look at the center point for a while, the stripes will disappear.

Pictures of optical illusion: shapeshifter

Another type of visual illusion is shapeshifting. The fact is that the image of the object itself depends on the direction of your gaze. So, one of these optical illusions is the “duck hare.” This image can be interpreted as both an image of a hare and an image of a duck.

Take a closer look, what do you see in the next picture?

What do you see in this picture: a musician or a girl’s face?

Strange, it's actually a book.

A few more pictures: optical illusion

If you look at the black color of this lamp for a long time, and then look at a white sheet of paper, then this lamp will be visible there too.

Look at the dot, and then move away a little and move closer to the monitor. The circles will spin in different directions.

That. the features of optical perception are complex. Sometimes you shouldn’t believe your own eyes...

Snakes crawl in different directions.

Aftereffect illusion

After throughout long period continuously look at the image, for some time then there will be some impact on vision. For example, prolonged contemplation of a spiral leads to the fact that all objects around will rotate for 5-10 seconds.

Shadow figure illusion

This is a common type of erroneous perception when a person guesses a figure in the shadows with peripheral vision.

Irradiation

This is a visual illusion that leads to a distortion of the size of an object placed on a background of contrasting color.

Phosphene phenomenon

This is the appearance of unclear dots of different shades in front of closed eyes.

Depth perception

This is an optical illusion, implying two options for perceiving the depth and volume of an object. Looking at the image, a person does not understand whether an object is concave or convex.

Optical illusions: video

Illusion is an optical illusion.

Types of optical illusion:

optical illusion based on color perception;
optical illusion based on contrast;
twisting illusions;
optical illusion of depth perception;
optical illusion of size perception;
contour optical illusion;
optical illusion "shifters";
Ames room;
moving optical illusions.
stereo illusions, or, as they are also called: “3d pictures”, stereo pictures.

ILLUSION OF BALL SIZE

Isn't it true that the size of these two balls is different? Is the top ball larger than the bottom?

In fact, this is an optical illusion: these two balls are absolutely equal. You can use a ruler to check. By creating the effect of a receding corridor, the artist managed to deceive our vision: the top ball seems larger to us, because our consciousness perceives it as a more distant object.

ILLUSION OF A. EINSTEIN AND M. MONROE

If you look at the picture from close distance, you see the brilliant physicist A. Einstein.

Now try to move a few meters away, and... miracle, in the picture there is M. Monroe. Here everything seems to have gone without an optical illusion. But how?! No one painted on the mustache, eyes, or hair. It’s just that from afar, vision does not perceive some small details, and puts more emphasis on large details.

The optical effect, which gives the viewer a false impression of the location of the seat, is due to the original design of the chair, invented by the French studio Ibride.

Peripheral vision turns beautiful faces into monsters.

Which direction does the wheel spin?

Stare without blinking at the middle of the image for 20 seconds, and then move your gaze to someone’s face or just a wall.

ILLUSION OF WALL SIDE WITH WINDOW

On which side of the building is the window located? On the left, or maybe on the right?

Once again our vision has been deceived. How did this become possible? Very simple: the upper part of the window is depicted as a window located with right side buildings (we are looking from below), and the lower part is from the left (we are looking from above). And the middle is perceived by vision as consciousness deems necessary. That's the whole deception.

Illusion of bars

Take a look at these bars. Depending on which end you are looking at, the two pieces of wood will either be next to each other, or one of them will be lying on top of the other.

Cube and two identical cups

Optical illusion created by Chris Westall. There is a cup on the table, next to which there is a cube with a small cup. However, upon closer examination, we can see that in fact the cube is drawn, and the cups are exactly the same size. A similar effect is noticeable only at a certain angle.

Illusion "Cafe Wall"

Take a close look at the image. At first glance, all the lines seem to be curved, but in fact they are parallel. The illusion was discovered by R. Gregory at the Wall Cafe in Bristol. This is where its name came from.

Illusion Leaning Tower of Pisa

Above you see two pictures of the Leaning Tower of Pisa. At first glance, the tower on the right appears to lean more than the tower on the left, but in fact both of these pictures are the same. The reason is that the visual system views the two images as part of a single scene. Therefore, it seems to us that both photographs are not symmetrical.

ILLUSION OF WAVY LINES

There is no doubt that the lines depicted are wavy.

Remember what the section is called - optical illusion. You're right, these are straight, parallel lines. And it's a twisting illusion.

Ship or arch?

This illusion is a real work of art. The painting was painted by Rob Gonsalves - Canadian artist, representative of the genre magical realism. Depending on where you look, you may see either an arch long bridge or a ship's sail.

ILLUSION - GRAFFITI “LADDER”

Now you can relax and not think that there will be another optical illusion. Let's admire the artist's imagination.

This graffiti was made by a miracle artist in the subway to the surprise of all passers-by.

BEZOLDI EFFECT

Look at the picture and say in which part the red lines are brighter and more contrasting. On the right isn't it?

In fact, the red lines in the picture are no different from each other. They are absolutely identical, again an optical illusion. This is the Bezoldi effect, when we perceive the tonality of a color differently depending on its proximity to other colors.

COLOR CHANGE ILLUSION

Does the color of the horizontal gray line change in the rectangle?

The horizontal line in the picture does not change throughout and remains the same gray. I can't believe it, right? This is an optical illusion. To make sure of this, cover the rectangle surrounding it with a sheet of paper. This effect is similar to picture No. 1.

THE ILLUSION OF A SHINING SUN

This magnificent photograph of the sun was taken by the American space agency NASA. It shows two sunspots pointing directly at the Earth.

Something else is much more interesting. If you look around the edge of the Sun, you will see how it shrinks. This is truly GREAT - no cheating, a good illusion!

ZOLNER'S ILLUSION

Do you see that the herringbone lines in the picture are parallel?

I don't see it either. But they are parallel - check with a ruler. My vision was also deceived. This is the famous classic Zollner illusion, which has been around since the 19th century. Because of the “needles” on the lines, it seems to us that they are not parallel.

ILLUSION-JESUS ​​CHRIST

Look at the picture for 30 seconds (it may take more), then move your gaze to a light, flat surface, such as a wall.

Before your eyes you saw the image of Jesus Christ, the image is similar to the famous Shroud of Turin. Why does this effect occur? In the human eye there are cells called cones and rods. Cones are responsible for transmitting a color image to the human brain under good illumination, and rods help a person see in the dark and are responsible for transmitting low-definition black-and-white images. When you look at a black and white image of Jesus, the sticks get tired due to long and intense work. When you look away from the image, these “tired” cells cannot cope and cannot convey new information into the brain. Therefore, the image remains before the eyes and disappears when the sticks “come to their senses.”

ILLUSION. THREE SQUARE

Sit closer and look at the picture. Do you see that the sides of all three squares are curved?

I also see curved lines, despite the fact that the sides of all three squares are perfectly straight. When you move some distance away from the monitor, everything falls into place - the square looks perfect. This is due to the fact that the background causes our brain to perceive lines as curves. This is an optical illusion. When the background merges and we don’t see it clearly, the square appears even.

ILLUSION. BLACK FIGURES

What do you see in the picture?

This is a classic illusion. Taking a quick glance, we see some strange figures. But after looking a little longer we begin to distinguish the word LIFT. Our consciousness is accustomed to seeing black letters on a white background, and continues to perceive this word as well. It is very unexpected for our brain to read white letters on a black background. In addition, most people first look at the center of the picture, and this makes the task even more difficult for the brain, because it is used to reading a word from left to right.

ILLUSION. ILLUSION OF OUCHI

Look at the center of the picture and you will see a “dancing” ball.

This is an iconic optical illusion invented in 1973. Japanese artist Ouchi and named after him. There are several illusions in this picture. First, the ball appears to move slightly from side to side. Our brain cannot understand that this is a flat image and perceives it as three-dimensional. Another deception of the Ouchi illusion is the impression that we are looking through a round keyhole at a wall. Finally, all the rectangles in the picture are the same size, and they are arranged strictly in rows without apparent displacement.

ILLUSION. ILLUSION OF THE COLOR OF WORDS

Say quickly and without hesitation the color of the letters in which the words below are written:

To some extent, this is not an optical illusion, but a puzzle. It is really difficult to name the color of a word, due to the conflict that arises between the left and right hemispheres. The right half is trying to say the color, and the left half is intensively reading the word, because of this, confusion arises in our minds.

ILLUSION-GREEN SHADES

You already guessed that the picture shows not two shades of green, but the same green color.

And you yourself can explain this optical illusion - the brain perceives them as different shades due to the contrast of the colors next to them. To check this, simply cover the environment with a sheet of paper.

PICTURE ILLUSION. SHLINKING TUNNEL

There will be no optical illusions here. To appreciate this illusion, you need to look at the center of the ball for a while.

The picture will reveal its capabilities in a few seconds. You will be able to see the tunnel begin to flash, some will see stronger "flashes". The illusion of flickering in this picture is associated with the peculiarities of black and white vision of the eye. As you know, special cells - rods - are responsible for it. If they are “overstressed,” these cells “get tired” and we see such an illusion.

PICTURE ILLUSION. SEA WAVES ON A PLATE

Look at the picture and you will see the illusion of a wave, as if the image “came to life.” To enhance the effect, you can move your head or eyes to the sides.

This illusion is associated with different colors(white and pink) intermediate links between peas. White color visible clearly and brightly, but pink color, when you don’t look closely at it, it merges with the green and becomes difficult to distinguish. And in the picture there is an illusion that the distance between the peas is changing.

PICTURE ILLUSION. SPIRAL GOING TO INFINITY

You ask: “Well, what is the illusion behind this picture? Regular spiral"

In fact, this is an unusual spiral, and it is not a spiral at all. This is an optical illusion! The picture shows ordinary completed circles, and blue lines create the illusion of a spiral due to the twisting effect.

PICTURE ILLUSION. CUP OF WINE

What do you see in this picture? What is the illusion here?

If, in addition to the cup of wine, you saw two faces in the area of ​​the “leg” of the cup, looking at each other, you can be congratulated!

TO ARTICLE ILLUSION. WAVY SIDE OF SQUARE

Try and guess what kind of illusion is hidden in this picture.

If you see wavy lines sides of the squares - nothing surprising, because this is an illusion! Using a ruler, you can determine that the sides of the squares are straight and even.

OPTICAL ILLUSION. HIGH HAT

Estimate the height of the hat and its width and answer the question: “Are segments AB and CD equal?”

I really liked this optical illusion. It's incredible, but the height and width of the hat are exactly the same, i.e. segment AB is equal to CD. Due to the fact that the edges of the hat are curved on the sides, and the person’s face, on the contrary, is elongated, an optical illusion is created that the height of the hat is greater than the width. This can be explained by the fact that our brain takes into account the size of surrounding objects. If you measure the segments with a ruler or simply cover the person’s face with a sheet of paper, the optical illusion will disappear.

OPTICAL ILLUSION. GRAY DIAMONDS

Are all gray diamonds the same color? Isn't it true that the lower layers of the diamonds are lighter than the top?

The color of all diamonds is exactly the same. This optical illusion can again be explained by the environment. Our brain compares objects with environment, and an optical illusion occurs.

OPTICAL ILLUSION. A GIANT CHASES A Dwarf

Do you think the giant will catch up with the dwarf?

I will not give an answer to this question. But I know for sure that “fear has big eyes” and that these two figures are absolutely identical. Our consciousness is caught in an optical illusion; due to the corridor going into the distance, it perceives that the distant figure should be smaller.

OPTICAL ILLUSION. BLACK AND WHITE DOTS

The correct answer is 0. There are no black dots in the picture, all dots are white. Our peripheral vision perceives them as black. Because with lateral vision there is a displacement of the picture, but when we look directly at the same point, the optical illusion disappears.

OPTICAL ILLUSION. HORIZONTAL LINES

Do you see horizontal lines in the picture?

In fact, all the lines are not only parallel to each other, but also horizontal. You can use a ruler to check.

OPTICAL ILLUSION. SPIRAL

Is this a spiral? Is not it?

Take a closer look and you will see an optical illusion, in fact it is smooth circles. But at the expense geometric pattern and selected colors, the illusion of shifting lines of circles appears in consciousness.

OPTICAL ILLUSION. PINK LINES

The picture shows pink lines crossing each other diagonally. Different shades, right?

In fact, the pink lines are completely identical to each other, they are the same shade of pink. This optical illusion is based on the contrast of colors surrounding the pink lines.

OPTICAL ILLUSION. LADDER

I ask you to answer the question: “Where does the staircase lead, up or down?”

The correct answer depends on which side you look at. If you imagine red as the front wall, then up, if yellow, then down.

OPTICAL ILLUSION. CUTS

Are the lengths of the left and right vertical segments equal?

You can use a ruler and make sure they are equal. Our vision was deceived by the “checkmarks” at the ends of the segments; you can cover them with a sheet of paper and make sure that our consciousness was under their influence.

It turns out that many of the mysterious pictures (optical illusions - puzzles) that are so popular on the Internet are actually reproductions of paintings by talented surrealist artists. These people know the laws by which our visual perception works and use these laws to create mysterious masterpieces that you want to look at again and again. Illusions from famous artists, reproductions of them wonderful paintings you can see in this article, we will also briefly talk about surrealism and its representatives from the world of artists.

Surrealism

Perhaps the most famous of the surrealist artists is Salvador Dali. But, based on the impression of the illusions created in the paintings, modern artists are not only not inferior to El Salvador, but in many ways they are ahead.. What is surrealism? This is an art movement that uses allusions and paradoxical forms. Surrealist paintings help us look at our surroundings with different eyes, to see in the surrounding reality what may be hidden behind everyday life. Surrealist artists love to paint mystery paintings that make you think, peer and wonder. In their paintings, the background constantly changes places with the figure. Either you see a portrait of a man, or two women walking with umbrellas in the rain; or you look at the arches and columns, and suddenly you realize that you are already looking at skyscrapers that previously looked like arches. Yes, what can I say!? See and be amazed at how rich the human imagination is and what our brain is capable of. All pictures are clickable, click on them and they will become larger so you can see more details.

We present to you just one painting by Dali, since in his work he went too far from reality. This painting conveys the play of figure and background. In it, two nuns become the central part of the composition due to the fact that a human face is obtained from their figures. Most likely this face is a portrait real personality, since surrealists often depict people in this way. In the works contemporary artists you will see it more clearly. But we won’t write in detail about the artists themselves here; their biographies and other reproductions of paintings can be found on the Internet. Here we simply display reproductions with the artist’s name and (sometimes) the title of the painting. And you figure out how this can happen... from one horse there are two or more, from landscapes there are people, from curtains the sky and so on...

How suddenly, for Rob Gonsalves, the clouds become sails, and the girls become part of architectural structure…

Rob Gonsalves

Same principle here. The girls are not visible while you are looking at the sky, because in this case they are a reflection in the water.

This is also a painting by Gonsalves. The same principle is used. You won't notice the skyscrapers right away. What do they have to do with them on the shore? We see them as if from the sea.

Or here - how interestingly perspectives are intertwined in Rob’s painting. One goes forward, the other goes down, and it turns out that the boy is swinging on one tree, but under him there is another and there is another road, etc.

or here. This is the same principle as in the picture above.

Oleg Shuplyak. Ukrainian artist, who now lives abroad. He created a whole gallery of portraits famous people like this in an unusual way. Really impressive!

Well, it’s clear that this is a guy with sheep in the background rural landscape. How did all this become a portrait of Taras Shevchenko?!

Great! I wonder if Newton is one or both of these people? Or maybe there is a third one? I won't be surprised by anything anymore.

You won't see Mane here right away. Girls with umbrellas are more noticeable. Although...When you see the picture for the first time and from afar, you don’t see the girls. Impressive.

Another interesting portrait.

Another familiar face. This time exclusively from a winter village landscape.

Octavio Ocampo

Also very interesting portraits. It seems like just two squirrels on a branch, but what a girl she turned out to be!

Another variation by this artist on the theme of a girl made from surrounding objects.

What do you think of this picture? You don't know what to look at!!!

Octavio loves riddles! Count if you can, how many horses are there?

Horses or girls? Where do you look most often?