THIS optical illusion is sure to put your head in a spin.
It presents two rotating rings made up of six, egg-shaped dots. The rings appear to be moving at different speeds.
They are, however, both spinning at the same rate.
The illusion was posted to Twitter on October 8 by Japanese psychologist and artist Akiyoshi Kitaoka.
They wrote: “The right ring appears to rotate faster than the left one, though the velocity is the same.”
The trick-of-the-eye results from the dots of the right ring flashing as they spin.
If you look closely, they switch from black to white in a sweeping motion from right to left.
This gives the illusion of speed or acceleration, making the ring appear to rotate faster than its counterpart on the left.
It only works because the non-flashing ring is visible next to it.
One way to “hack” the illusion is to stare at both rings at once, and then cover the left one with your hand.
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You’ll notice that the right ring then appears to slow down, rotating at a more sluggish pace than before.
Twitter users reacted in delight at Kitaoka’s post.
One wrote: “You tweet some awesome stuff.”
Akiyoshi Kitaoka is an experimental psychology professor and illusions expert at Ritsumeikan University in Japan.
He regularly shares optical illusions he has found or created with his 50,000 Twitter followers.
Illusions are often just a bit of fun, but they also hold real value for scientists.
The brain puzzles help researchers shed light on the inner workings of the mind and how it reacts to its surroundings.
Dr Gustav Kuhn, a psychologist and human perception expert at Goldsmiths University in London, told the Sun earlier this year that illusions are important to our understanding of the brain.
“We typically take perception for granted, and rarely think about the hard work that underpins everyday tasks, such as seeing a cup of coffee in front of you,” he said.
“Visual illusions highlight errors in perception, and they provide important glimpses into the hidden neural processes that allow us to see the world around us.”
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This post first appeared on Thesun.co.uk
