Creepy video optical illusion changes the way you see people’s FACES – and freaked out viewers say it is ‘terrifying’

THIS creepy video optical illusion distorts the way you see people’s faces – leaving viewers both confused and terrified.

A new video optical illusion asks you to stare at a cross before numerous faces flash on the screen.

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Different faces will flash on the screen in an illusion Credit: YouTubeAlthough they may look normal in the pictures, watch the video to see how they change

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Although they may look normal in pictures, watch the video to see how they change Credit: YouTubeThe illusion is called the 'flash distortion effect'

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The illusion is called the ‘face flash distortion effect’Credit: YouTube

You’ll have to watch the video to take part in this latest optical illusion.

In the clip, pairs of different faces are shown in rapid succession.

There is an intentionally empty space between the two faces for the illusion to work.

Viewers are told to keep their eyes on the cross if they want to see the change of face.

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The video assures you that the faces haven’t been changed yet – it’s just your brain doing it for you.

Unconsciously, your mind changes faces in frightening ways, so some people might have their eyes in the wrong place, for example.

The altered perception is the result of what the National Library of Medicine calls the “facial flash distortion effect.”

This is “a striking visual illusion in which faces shown consecutively in peripheral vision begin to look increasingly grotesque after only a few faces have been shown.”

Cognitive experts can’t even fully explain the distortion effect – but it could come from the way our vision normalizes facial features so that what follows becomes abnormal for us.

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Users expressed their confusion and dismay at the illusion in the comments of the video.

One said: “Starts out hilarious and then slowly becomes terrifying.”

Another commented that it will “undoubtedly dominate my nightmares for the next week”.

And: “That was so cool. I saw a bunch of grotesque faces with multiple eyes. Even things that look like a lizard.”

Someone also pointed out that the face remains “grotesque” even when you pause the video until viewers “finally move” their gaze.

The distortion effect is similar to “demon face syndrome,” where the Tennessee man is one of 75 people worldwide to have the condition.

Victor Sharrah was dealing with an extremely rare condition where every person seemed to have a disturbingly distorted face.

Sharrah said his nightmare began when he woke up one morning, three years ago, to see a person who looked like the devil in his home.

The person turned out to be his roommate and the confusion continued when he went outside and all the persons looked the same.

Sharrah was 56 at the time and revealed he was still feeling the effects of his condition three years on.

This condition is called prosopometamorphopsia (PMO) and affects the way people see the shape, size, color and position of facial features.

The outcome varies from person to person, but some common aspects are drooping, stretching, or larger or smaller features.

What causes prosopometamorphopsia?

Face processing depends on a complex network of brain regions, and dysfunction within that network can produce a wide range of impairments in face processing.

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When faces or parts of the face are perceived as distorted, the condition is known as prosopometamorphopsia (PMO).

About 75 case reports of people with PMO have been published.

There is little understanding of why people experience different types of PMO.

Full-face PMO and hemi-prosopometamorphopsia PMO are the two most prominent subtypes of PMO.

In full-face PMO, the lines on both sides of the face are distorted.

For hemi-PMO, the lines on one side of the face are distorted while the lines on the other side of the face look normal.

Source: Understanding PMO

The condition meant that Sharrah saw the faces of people with distorted features

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The condition meant Sharrah saw people’s faces with distorted features Credit: SWNS

Categories: Optical Illusion
Source: HIS Education

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