The optical illusion leaves viewers scratching their heads because two identical images somehow look different.
The illusion called “Turn on the road” was created by researchers who presented three drawings of a road side by side.
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Kimberley D. Orsten and James R. Pomerantz of Rice University in Texas created an illusion that shows three images side by sideCredit: Kimberley Orsten, James Pemerantz / The Illusion Contest
The two images on the left look similar, while the one on the right looks out of place.
But on closer inspection, it’s the central image that’s different, and the two outer images are identical.
A short clip that accompanies the illusion shows what the drawings look like when they are moved.
Kimberley D. Orsten and James R. Pomerantz of Rice University in Texas created the illusion for the 2014 Illusion of the Year contest, where it won third prize.
The couple explains in their entry: “When we look at two images that are physically the same, they tend to look the same. When they are different, they look different. Our illusions show the opposite.”
Two images that are different but look the same are known as “metameres,” the pair say.
Meanwhile, two images that are identical but look different are called “antimetamers.”
The Turn in the Road illusion uses this effect by displaying three images, two of which match and the third does not.
The pair continue: “Viewers see one image as strange, but it is one of two identical images that they see as different, an illusion we call ‘false pop’.”
The Illusion of the Year competition is an annual celebration of the illusion research community.
Entries come from all over the world and are evaluated by an international jury before narrowing them down to a top ten list.
Optical illusions show how deceptive our eyes can be.
Not everyone sees the same when it comes to optical illusions because what we see is often based on preconceptions and associations.
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When rearranged, it becomes clearer that the two images of the road are identical Credit: Kimberley Orsten, James Pemerantz / The Illusion Contest
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Categories: Optical Illusion
Source: HIS Education