7 thoughts on “”

  1. Watched that clip about 8 times trying not to see the optical illusion. Didn’t work. Is it the slight difference in lighting perceived by the eye that allows the brain interpreting the two ends appearing shaped differently?

  2. The part that I can almost understand is that it is shaped like a propeller. The viewpoint is chosen so that our line of sight is nearly parallel to the left side and more perpendicular to the right side. The facets you can see seem to produce the effect in reverse. It’s interesting that the effect holds up in the mirror, I wonder how far you could raise and lower the viewpoint before it broke down.

  4. The facets are the key, as this would work with various light arrangements. Facets hide or expose parts of the figure behind them. They are tilted differently.

    Part of this is our brain interpreting, of course. Our brains learn what arrangements of reflected light usually mean – and by usually, I mean over 99% – and so we automatically respond that’s what it “is.” Because it works, and it kept us from getting eaten by tigers back in the day. But everything is shortcuts in the brain, including sight, so sometimes there are ambiguities.

    If you study perception, you will find it fascinating but frustrating. I gave it up as a topic to pursue after the 20th time of thinking I finally understood it, only to learn I really hadn’t. The military has really wild information on this as they try to make things disappear from detection.

  7. A great book from last year that covers the history of optics in warfare including camouflage is The Eye of War: Military Perception from the Telescope to the Drone.

    Surveillance and imaging and targeting are now so good at creating the so-called non-permissive battlespace, that fighting on open terrain is at a stalemate. It pushed war into the shadows, tunnels, alleys, sniper nests, IED potholes, etc. one end, and into swarms of ‘little green men’, drones, bots, and cyber-viruses on the other end.

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