Optical Illusions
(page 1)
This page contains a
free variety of different optical illusions, puzzles, and challenges. New illusions will be added on a regular
basis, so keep coming to this page for new and fun challenges. And be sure to check out the "Free Magic Tricks"
page for great tricks that you can learn at home.
New "rotating mask"
illusion (added in August 2010 located towards the middle on the right side)
New "moving images" and "climbing
man" illusion (added in July 2010 located towards the bottom)
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Added
3/5/09. This is incredibly cool. Doesn't it look like the above picture is moving and expanding?
Guess what? It's not. This is just a plain picture and is truly not moving in any way. But because of the
way it's drawn, it really gives the impression that it is expanding. It took a while to convince me that this was nothing
more than just a regular picture (with absolutely NO animations). If you want proof, here's something you can try.
(This works for some people, but not all.) Look DIRECTLY at the center of this picture for a few seconds. Don't
move your eyes. Just focus on the center. After a few seconds, you may be able to notice that the picture does
not really move.
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Added 6/11/09. This is so cool! Move your eyes back and forth between
these two spinning spirals. Can you determine which spiral is spinning faster? (For this illusion
to work, you must keep moving your eyes back and forth between the two images.)
Believe it or not, neither
spiral is moving at all. They are both just pictures (with absolutely no animations). I didn't believe this at
first.
Here's how to prove it. Try not to move your eyes between the two spirals. Just stare directly
at one, and only one of them. When you stare directly at just one spiral, you'll be able to see that the spiral is
really not moving at all. But the instant you relax your eyes and start to look at both spirals again, you'll be fooled
into thinking that they are moving.
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Added 5/24/09. Which is darker:
(1)
the top portion of block A, or
(2) the bottom portion of block B?
It appears that the top portion of
Block A is darker. But it's not. The top of block A and the bottom of block B are exactly the same color.
Just
by looking at the picture, you may not believe me. Here's how to prove it. Use your finger (or some other object)
to cover up the part where blocks A and B meet. This will cover up the different shades of gray at their intersection.
Once the intersection is covered up, it should become clear that the parts not covered by your finger are all the exact
same shade of gray.
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Added 12/2/08. Count the number of people that
you see. The image will then shift a bit (with the upper parts of the people being moved around). It appears that
there are no people added or taken away. It simply looks like the bodies are being interchanged with one another.
But if you re-count the number of people that are now there, you'll arrive at a different answer than your original answer. . . . . . .
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Added 12/2/08. Try to follow
the moving pink dot. When you do this, all of the other dots will look pink. But if you want to see something
very interesting, stare directly at the black + in the center. While staring directly at the +, all of the other dots
will slowly become green. And if you keep staring directly at the + in the center, all of the other dots will then start
to disappear until you can only see one greet dot moving around.
(The cool thing is that the dots never really disappeared,
nor did they really change colors. You just got the impression that they did.)
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Added 1/12/09. Focus your eyes directly in the exact
center of this picture. You should tiny blue dots moving around, along with the 3 yellow dots. To make this work,
try not to look directly at a yellow dot. Simply keep focusing on the exact center of this picture. If you do
this correctly, after about 10-20 seconds you'll actually see the yellow dots disappear. You might only see one yellow
dot disappear. But if you really focus on the center, you may see all 3 yellow dots disappear. The cool thing
is that the yellow dots never vanish - they are always there. You just get the impression that they vanish.
(Another way to view this optical illusion is to stare at exactly one of the yellow dots. Within about 5-15 seconds
the other two yellow dots will seem to vanish.)
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Added 1/12/09. Watch the rotating object.
It will start off by rotating in one direction (clockwise). And then, without doing anything, it will start to rotate
in the opposite direction (counter-clockwise). Give it a few seconds and it will switch directions again.
The cool thing is that this object is NEVER changing directions.
You just get the impression that it does. In reality, this object is always rotating in the exact same direction.
If you don't believe me, here's how to prove it. Pick just one red segment. Just focus on only this segment and
watch it go around. It never changes directions. It's only when you focus on the bigger picture (the entire object)
that it appears to change directions. . . .
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Added 12/16/09.
You should see 3 spinning rods in the box. It is obvious that each rod is spinning. But it appears that
the rods are doing more than just spinning. It looks like the rods are starting off on the left side of the box and
moving towards the right side of the box. This is just an illusion. They are not actually moving from left to
right. To understand this, try focusing on just one of the
rods. You will see that this rod really does spin. But by focusing on just this one rod
you should be able to see that it does not actually move from the left to the right. Although it's
rotating, it is always staying in the same location.
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Added 8/22/10. Watch the mask rotate. It is
always rotating in just one direction. You might see it rotating from the right to the left (or maybe in the other direction).
But here's the cool thing. If you stare at the mask, it will temporarily start to rotate in the opposite direction.
It does this only when the front of the mask has rotated and you're viewing the INSIDE of the mask.
Just watch the mask
rotate. Once you are looking at the inside of the mask, it should temporarily appear to rotate in the OPPOSITE
direction. Once the front of the mask comes back around the image should resume rotating in its original direction.
(I assure you, the image has never really changed directions. You just get the impression that it has.) |
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Added 2/1/10. You should be able to see the blue dots rotating in one direction.
The cool thing is that you can actually make the dots appear to rotate in the OPPOSITE direction.
To do this, just
try to visualize them rotating in the opposite direction. You should see their direction change
Added 7/10. Watch the man climbing up the steps. He climbs
up the steps forever. But wait! Is this possible? How could he keep going up the steps? The steps
don't go on forever (nor are they changing in any way). So at some time it would appear impossible for him to keep climbing
"UP". But that's not the case with this animated image. Somehow this image is able to
give the impression of the man being able to climb up the steps indefinitely.
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Added 7/10. Believe it or not, this image is not moving. It's
hard to believe, but this is just a picture and is not animated at all. To prove it, just stare directly at one
of the spirals. Try not to let your eyes roam. If you stare directly at just one spiral it should become clear
that nothing moves or rotates in this picture.
Added 1/12/09. This is similar to one of
the previous rotating illusions. Watch the entire object rotate around. At times it will appear to rotate
in a clockwise direction, and other times it will appear to rotate in a counter-clockwise direction. However, the reality
is that this object is ALWAYS turning in just one direction. It just appears to change directions based on which colored
dots you watch. To understand this, focus on one red dot and watch this dot go around. When watching this one
red dot, the entire object appears to rotate counter-clockwise. But now focus on one yellow dot. When watching
this yellow dot, the entire object appears to rotate in the opposite direction (clockwise). And sometimes the entire
object seems to just change directions without you doing anything. Pretty cool.
new optical you are close and you are
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