Optical Illusions facts

While investigating facts about Optical Illusions Pictures and Optical Illusions Drawings, I found out little known, but curios details like:

There is an optical illusion called the McCullough Effect that is so powerful, ten minutes of exposure can cause you to see colors that are not there for up to a month.

how optical illusions work?

There's an optical illusion that can "break" your brain for over 3 months.

Optical illusions what do you see?

In my opinion, it is useful to put together a list of the most interesting details from trusted sources that I've come across answering what causes optical illusions. Here are 50 of the best facts about Optical Illusions Faces and Optical Illusions Art I managed to collect.

what optical illusions do to your brain?

Lee Richmond, the first Major League pitcher to throw a perfect game (in 1880) once had a physics professor explain to him that a curveball couldn't exist, and it was only an optical illusion. In response to this, Richmond invited the entire faculty to watch him pitch.
An optical illusion occasionally makes the city of Chicago appear upside down.
There's an optical illusion that can detect schizophrenia
There's an optical illusion that can distort your vision for months, changing the way you perceive colour.
By placing stones, bones and shells in and around his nest by size — from small to large — the male bowerbird creates an optical illusion, known as forced perspective, making his nest appear larger than it actually is from the point of view of prospective mates.
A gravity hill, also known as a magnetic hill, or anti-gravity hill, is a place where the layout of the surrounding land produces an optical illusion, making a slight downhill slope appear to be an uphill slope. Thus, a car left out of gear will appear to be rolling uphill against gravity.
An optical effect that was first described by him is named the Wundt illusion.
Since projectors cannot project the color black, they rely on an optical illusion using the darkness of a room to give the illusion of the color black.
"white's illusion" and "munker's illusion" are optical illusions in which placing objects of the same shade or color in two opposite contexts of contrasting stripes causes the object to appear to be a different shade or color
The moon is not actually larger when near to the horizon. It is an optical illusion known about since ancient times whose cause is still debated to this day.

optical illusions facts — What are the 3 types of optical illusions?

Why optical illusions fool our brains?

You can easily fact check why optical illusions happen by examining the linked well-known sources.

Zebra stripes act like a confusing optical illusion to flies, making it harder for them to land on zebras and bite them

Praying mantis have five eyes and the black 'eye balls' are an optical illusion called pseudopupil. - source

The Gateway Arch is an optical illusion. It's exactly as wide as it is tall (360ft) - source

The Futura typeface appears to look like perfectly balanced geometric shapes but the characters are actually subtly distorted. It's an optical illusion that the brain interprets as geometric.

The "Green Flash" from Pirates of the Caribbean is an actual phenomenon, an optical illusion that occurs occasionally at sunset - source

When were optical illusions invented?

Scientist have discovered that monkeys are susceptible to optical illusions, just like humans

How optical illusions trick your brain?

The Ames room, an optical illusion used to make things appear different in size than they actually are, was used in the Lord of the Rings films to adjust the height of Hobbits

Blue feathers do not actually exist; while many birds may appear blue, this is not caused by chemical pigments, but because of an optical illusion created by microscopic prismatic structures on the surface of the feather reflecting only certain wavelengths of light

Parkinson's patients can be enabled to walk more fluidly – even without a walker – by placing an optical illusion on the floor.

Tupac’s “hologram” at the 2012 Coachella was made possible by an optical illusion called Pepper’s Ghost, which was first developed in the 16th century

The McCollough effect, a phenomenon caused by an optical illusion that can distort your perception of color for 3 months or longer.

When do optical illusions occur?

Fata Morgana is an optical phenomenon which occurs when rays of light are bent as they pass through air layers of different temperatures. This illusion has been the root of much folklore including The Flying Dutchman, UFO stories, and the recent accounts of floating cities above China/California

Devil's Kettle a waterfall in Minnesota disappears after it falls in to a pothole. There are many theories but scientists have now concluded that it's just an optical illusion by stream gauging the volume, after throwing logs and pingpong balls into it to find it on the other side for years

The "sector whiteout" optical illusion, which once caused a passenger jet carrying 257 people to fly straight into the side of a mountain.

.. In 1476 the church of Santa Maria presso San Satiro in Milan didn't have enough space to be built. The problem was solved by Donato Barmante who created an optical illusion using 3 feet of space which gives the church the impression of being much larger than it is.

Time magazine, prompted likely by angry baseball fans, published an article in 1941 stating curve balls were optical illusions and that baseballs are too heavy for spin to have any impact supported with photographs

How optical illusions are made?

The McCollough Effect - an optical illusion which will make the observer colourblind... and will usually last for over three months.

In addition to optical illusions, there are auditory illusions, including a tone that seems to continually descend in pitch for eternity.

A number of hills that due to an optical illusion makes it look like water flows uphill or a car left out of gear would roll uphill.

The Art of the Smear: an optical illusion used by animators, described as the "visualization of a blur". Typically animators either stretch a shape or repeat it in sequence to mimic movement. Animators seem to love doing these, and if you look at a couple you'll get why.

Meditation has effects on visual perception. Zen masters test significantly better on one type of optical illusion (Poggendorf illusion), thought not any better on another (Muller-Lyer illusion).

Cats can also perceive optical illusions, especially the rotating snake illusion. So many possibilities unlocked.

10 Mind Blowing Optical Illusions - good to know about it along with our international modern school

About Gravity hill - A gravity hill is a place where the layout of the surrounding land produces an optical illusion, making a slight downhill slope appear to be an uphill slope.

The minarets of Taj Mahal were constructed leaning outwards so if they were to fall in an earthquake the main mausoleum wouldn't be damaged. It's only an optical illusion that they look parallel.

Some thought the curveball didn't actually move and was only an optical illusion.

A catoptric theatre was an ancient optical illusion in which a single elaborate scene appeared to be larger than the box that contained it. A more modern example would be the torture chamber in the Phantom of the Opera, which is a six-sided catoptric chamber.

This is our collection of basic interesting facts about Optical Illusions. The fact lists are intended for research in school, for college students or just to feed your brain with new realities. Possible use cases are in quizzes, differences, riddles, homework facts legend, cover facts, and many more. Whatever your case, learn the truth of the matter why is Optical Illusions so important!