Optical Illusions

Introduction

I have always had a fascination with optical illusions. I suppose it's the deliciousness of having my eyes and brain being deceived in such a way. I'vecollected made for children that contain them as well as works by the likes of Professor Richard Langton Gregory, a psychologist who wrote about how and why we preceive things as we do. Later on, this Optical Illusions section of the website was one of the first I wrote and later still, I wrote a short paper on the subject for my college psychology class.

This or That

Man's face or a beggar? spotty dog Face in the snow vase or talking heads girl or hag young girl / old hag Young or old man? Three faces Indian or Eskimo Duck or Rabbit? missing cheese Convex or concave? 9 hidden people Donkey or seal? Old man or a kiss ? Three hidden faces 5 hidden faces Candle face Saxophone player or woman's face? Skull or vanity ? A skull or a couple ? A pair of gossips or the devil? The Liar Old People Trees or a knight? Which Way?

This or that

Almost Real

hollow brick Impossible trident fork shelves shelves and balls technical drawing Ambihelical Hexnut Impossible triangle & devils pitchforks Belvedere crate Impossible Triangle Impossible Penetrations

Penrose stairs Impossible joinery Tribar

Ring Flat 8 Quadrature of the Wheel An Oscar Reutersvard figure An Oscar Reutersvard figure Inpossible Corner Stool Images of Illusion Two-bar Torus Building an impossible arch Four Bar Layered blocks Two Arrows Meander How many legs? Up or Down Folds Structural Constellation Structural Constellation

Almost real

Strange Pictures

Gameboard Madonna and Child - Adoration of the Magi Section of a Cube A Slightly Difficult Interlocking Wood Puzzle The Magpie on the Gallows Apolinere Enameled Steps or Floor Tiles The Wearisome and the Easy Way to the Top Frans Erens Hogarth's Satire on False Perspective Hogarth's Satire on False Perspective Samuel Ireland after Hogarth, 1794 Steps Megalithic Monument Double Guarded Gateway to the Wintery Arcadia Carefully restored Roman ruin ... Caryatids Govert Schilling Passenger Train Street in San Francisco Landscapers Audience Ships Dali - Slave Market Bent space Dear Glacier Horses Jigsaw Roman Arch

Strange Pictures (Page 1), (Page 2)

Can you believe your eyes?

circles parallel lines square and circle spirals Colour Spiral spots Moving dots Black dots Black dots stripes tower zollner triangle 1 Triangle 2 triangle 3 triangle 4 Muller - Lyer Illusion corridor illusion Blur Bulb Negative How many pinks ? lines track lines Perspective distortion Necker cube Ponzo Illusion Poggendorff Illusion Orbison variant A Circle ? Lipps variant A Lipps variant B Shades of grey What size? square? in circle squares? Sander Parallelogram Life - The Fraser Illusion Which way is this card facing ? Woman sawn in half !!! Sausage Fingers Wavy lines St Michaels Hill St Michaels Hill St Michaels Hill Bumps Not really an optical illusion Not really an optical illusion Moving circles Arches CBS Tromp l'oeil - Cincinnati Keep Still! Clever Camouflage Dazzle Camouflage Antioch mosaic Trapezoids Color Concentrate Corporation logo Tri Lengths Line length Bent length

Can you believe your eyes? (Page 1), (Page 2), (Page 3), (Page 4)

Inversion Illusions

2nd century Roman pot 16th and 17th century examples Giuseppe's horse Giuseppe's man / hog

Some Ideas

Necker Cut Diamond Ring in a Presentation Box An Odd Bridge The Devils Bridge Eschers Toys Ready Assembled Shelf (MFI)

Some ideas that I had

Thanks to an email from Peter Shearn, a fellow Bristolian, who reminded me of the cafe at the bottom St Michael's Hill.

Thanks too to Patty Waltermire, Mark Griffiths and John Mitchelmore who sent me more material for these pages.

Other pages in this section...