"I shut my eyes in order to see" - Paul Gauguin








Ouuuuuh ... 

there is no try ... 

there is only do!   

 

 

Yes, our moldy little friend is quite correct. And the illusions we've collected here for you are quite "trying"! And so, we expect you to 'do' these little exercises until the force is strong with you!

Click below to bring up a variety of really cool optical illusions. So what exactly do you do with these? That's the easy part. Just sit back and enjoy them! What could be easier?

You've seen the first few already? Well, try some towards the end of the list then. They are awesome!

If your browser window doesn't come up full screen, maximize it for the best effect.

RED or BLUE

Known as the "Stroop Effect". Try to READ ALOUD off the COLORS of each word. You'll find yourself reading the WORD instead! It's great fun!

Count the Dots

As you look at this image, you see 'black' dots, but only if you're not looking at them! Try to look at the black dots, and they disappear! Where are they?

Crooked Red Lines

This illusion is very odd indeed! The red lines you see are in fact parallel. They look quite crooked, but they're not!

The Sax Man

A classic illusion. Do you see the little saxophone man? Or do you see a woman?

Parallel Lines

This illusion is nothing less than awesome! The vertical lines you see are in fact parallel. This one is way weird, huh?

Cubes on Cubes

In this illusion, the cubes are ordered such that as you go from cube to cube, each cube is hovering over the next. But wait ... is that possible?

Square Where?

I swear, I see a square! But where is the square? It's not there! Do I dare care to find the square?

My Eyes!!!

This illusion is simply AWESOME! We purposely made the table in the window too big for your screen. This will force a scroll-bar to your right. Move the image up and down (using the scrollbar). Wow!!

Swirls and Swirls

This image is fantastic. It swirls around and goes nowhere! 

My Poor Eyes!!!

Another fantastic illusion! As for the image above, use the scrollbar to move the image up and down. Way cool!

Yowza!

This image is a fractal and wasn't meant to be an illusion. However, we noticed that as we looked at it, it seemed to "shake". Just relax and look at the center, and then quickly dart your eyes slightly back and forth across the image. Wow!

Here it comes!

Just sit back and look at this picture. Don't "stare" into it .. just look at it comfortably. Notice how it "moves" towards you ... closer ... closer ... closer ... hey, is this thing EVER going to get here?

Spiraling In

Do you see spirals? I see spirals. I see lots of spirals. But where are they? Look closely and they're not there!

Wavy Lines

It seems impossible to believe that these lines are straight, but they really are! Look at the image and see how the colored lines seem to be wavy, not straight.

Straight Bumps

Now this is ONE bumpy image! It's crooked and not straight and ... wait ... it's just an illusion.

Shake and Rattle

Another awesome illusion of motion. Use the scroll bar to gently "shake" the picture. See how the inside square moves around? And if you look really closely, that square isn't even really there!

Oh my poor head!

Spin to the left. Spin to the right. Spinning all around me, all through the night! Look at this one if you dare! 

Oh Nuts!

Sometimes you feel like a nut. Sometimes you don't. Sometimes you just like to spin. Just like the last illusion, these 'nuts' seem to spin in both directions.

Shimmering Lens

This is such a WEIRD illusion! It looks like a lens over a pattern, with the lens image shimmering. Wow!

Pushing Out

Believe it or not, the vertical and horizontal lines in this image are straight lines! See how it appears to "push out" at you?

Mobius Strip?

This image looks like it's "twisted" or something. But follow your eyes around the two circles to convince yourself that they are just that ... circles.

It's Rising!

This simple image looks like it's rising up .. rising up .. rising up .. gee, where could it be going?

Spinning Wheels

Two circles of patterns that look like they're spinning, one in one direction and the other in the other direction.

Is That Red?

Look at the red lines spiraling into the image. Do they look purple? Red? Purple? Make up your mind! Oh, by the way ... there is NO purple in this image!

Shimmering

This spiral gives an effect of shimmering lines that aren't really there. 

Another Wheel

This is another image of two circles spinning in opposite directions. Simply awesome!

Rotating Targets

A collection of little targets (like archery targets) arranged in a pair of circles. The little targets just keep rotating about the figure. Weird!

B/W Shadow

This illusion presents you with a gray and white checkboard and a cylinder casting a shadow on it. What could be more simple? But wait until you see it! Is this for real?

Color Shadow

This is the same illusion as above but on a colored checkboard. Both illusions are so hard to believe that we had to provide you with an "inversion" button so that you can see the difference. Wow!

 

These illusions are for entertainment only and we hope that you were entertained! Brain Cafe would like to acknowledge the source of the above illusions.

Akiyoshi Kitaoka, PhD

Carol Furchner, PhD

Psychological ARTS

Eluzions

  

 

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