AN AMERICAN academic has stumped the internet with a mind boggling ‘perpetual diamond’ optical illusion.
Arthur Shapiro – a psychology professor in Washington DC – posted the eerie effect on Twitter and people were blown away.
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The perpetual diamond optical illusion has people stumped on Twitter
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The diamond appears to be moving up, down, left and right despite the fact it is fixed in one position
The illusion shows a pink diamond in the middle of the screen that – upon first gaze – appears to be flashing and moving.
But thanks to an intriguing scientific principle – the diamond only appears to be moving and is in fact fixed in one spot.
THE PERPETUAL DIAMOND
Professor Shapiro posted the mind-bending illusion alongside a challenge for the public.
His tweet read: “The Perpetual Diamond: The diamond remains fixed in one place but appears to move up, down, left or right.
“See how far away you can be from your screen before the effect goes away.”
The post received more than 1,000 retweets and 2,100 likes and prompted some confused reaction from Twitter users.
One user @Jonalert was so frustrated they posted: “Fair enough to confirm I quit this challenge.”
While Discodesert simply said: “The diamond is moving. You can’t say it’s not moving.”
According to his Twitter bio, Professor Shapiro works at the American University and is co-editor of the Oxford Compendium of Visual Illusions.
And as an expert in the field, the American clearly understands the science behind the illusion better than most because he has co-authored an academic paper about it.
In it he describes the perceived motion of the diamond as being ‘determined by the relative phases of the luminescence modulation between the edge strips and the background’.
But whether you understand the science or not – it is certainly much easier to keep staring at the diamond on the screen until you think it has stopped.
This latest optical based bafflement is similar to the reaction two Venezuelan filmmakers received when they posted a series of amazing illusions on their YouTube channel.
Kevin Lustgarten’s optical illusions will leave you scratching your head with this incredible video
Categories: Optical Illusion
Source: HIS Education