INTERNET users are baffled over an image of a 242ft wind-turbine blade in Hull that many have insisted is photoshopped.
Although people are claiming it looks superimposed, the gigantic 25-tonne object really did stand tall in the city centre earlier this year – and experts have now explained why it looks like it’s fake.
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The latest “optical illusion” that is baffling internet users is of this art installation called Blade that was in Hull that many claim looks photoshoppedCredit: Professor George Mather / University of Lincoln
The reason the public art, known as Blade, looks fake, is actually down to a “trick of the light.”
The research, which was published in scientific journal i-Perception, found that the illusion is caused by the way the light reflects from the long blade, which effectively alters the way the object’s shape is processed by the human eye.
Experts at the University of Lincoln said that light hitting the blade from above produces shading, making it appear cylindrical and that it looks like it was lit from the side instead.
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Researchers found that the confusion was down to the way light reflected off the blade, causing the brain to think something looks out of placeCredit: Professor George Mather / University of Lincoln
They claim it plays on “pre-conceived notions people have of how objects are lit in natural settings” and tricks the human eye into thinking that something is not quite right in the image.
And this causes the object to appear out-of-place for many people and as though it’s superimposed on the backdrop.
Science Daily reported how the researchers put their theory to the test and created two virtual versions of a cylindrical C-shaped profile and a more complex S-shaped profile.
They then lit each from above and from the side.
When the S-shape was lit from above and the C-shape was lit from the front both appeared cylindrical.
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This divisive dress caused a stir online when people were split about whether it is blue and black, or gold and whiteCredit: YouTube
Professor of Vision Science, George Mather, from the University of Lincoln’s School of Psychology, said: “I saw pictures of the installation in the media, and at first sight the photographs seemed to be clumsy fakes.
“Something else seemed to be at work too, at least to my eyes as a vision scientist.
“The blade appeared to be a cylindrical object, strangely out-of-keeping with the local environment, lit differently, as though it was superimposed on the scene digitally, but it really was there.
“We had an idea about what it was that conveyed this impression — light and shadow on the blade which is apparently inconsistent with the surroundings. The computer generated images were a way of testing the idea.”
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Do these legs appear shiny to you? Many people think they do, but in fact they are just covered in white paintCredit: YouTube
In 2015, the internet went wild after a dress divided the internet over whether or not it was blue and black, or gold and white.
Celebs including Kim Kardashian, Kanye West and Taylor Swift all joined in the row over the colour of the garment.
Another optical illusion that caused a stir online was a pair of legs that looked shiny, which in fact turned out to be down to just white paint.
It’s not the first time social media has been dumbfounded by an optical illusion, with thousands of people struggling to see the animal in this picture.
Categories: Optical Illusion
Source: HIS Education