OPTICAL illusions can trick our minds into seeing many things – but now they could improve our vision.
Looking at this simple visual illusion improves people’s ability to read fine print, new research suggests.
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Can you read small letters better after staring at this illusion for 30 seconds?
Scientists from the universities of York and Glasgow found visual acuity, the ability to read fine print, can be improved using something called the “expanding motion effect”.
After starring at the mesmerising illusion, people were able to read letters that were previously too small for them to read.
Visual acuity is thought to be determined by the shape and condition of the eye, but these findings suggest it may also be influenced by the perceptual process in the brain.
The perceptual process describes the steps a person’s brain takes to organise and interpret information from the outside world.
The expanding motion effect, which looks like a moving spiral, can make objects appear larger than they actually are.
Dr Rob Jenkins from the University of York’s department of psychology and his co-author Martin Lages from the University of Glasgow wanted to know if the ability for the motion effect to make objects seem bigger could help people read fine print.
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Scientists used a classic logMAR chart to test people’s vision after they looked at the illusionCredit: Getty Images
To do this they used a classic logMAR eye chart – the poster of letters you see at the optometrist’s office during an eye test.
They then asked more than 70 people to look at a a spiral pattern that rotated either clockwise or anticlockwise for 30 seconds.
Participants were then asked to read the set of letters on the chart.
The result showed that people’s ability to read the smaller letters differed depending on which spiral they watched.
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Tests showed that if the spiral was moving clockwise it improved people’s ability to read fine print, but if it was moving anticlockwise it made it worse
Those who started with normal vision and watched the clockwise spirals showed a better ability to read the smaller letters afterwards.
But those who looked at the anticlockwise spiral had worse vision than when they began.
It is believed to be because the clockwise spiral causes images to look like they are expanding.
A third experiment, in which participants were shown both spirals, saw similar results.
Dr Jenkins said: “We were pretty impressed by the consistency of the effect.
“No matter how you break it down, by letter size, by letter position, the performance boost is there.
“And there was a correlation with initial ability; the harder people found the task, the more the illusion helped them.”
But don’t throw out your specs just yet – the effects of the illusion are only short-lived.
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Categories: Optical Illusion
Source: HIS Education