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Optical illusions & the art of seeing

Explore optical illusions, impossible objects and illusion art with pictures, viewing instructions and explanations. Follow the science and history behind each example, from classic visual puzzles to fractals and camouflage in nature and human design.

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The collection

Heighway Dragon — Repeated right-angle turns fold a simple line into a complex shape.

Heighway Dragon

John Heighway, Bruce Banks, and William Harter

Repeated right-angle turns fold a simple line into a complex shape.

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Vertumnus — Rudolf II appears as a face assembled from fruit, flowers, and vegetables.

Vertumnus

Giuseppe Arcimboldo

Rudolf II appears as a face assembled from fruit, flowers, and vegetables.

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Impossible waterfall — A channel seems to return water to its own starting height.

Impossible waterfall

Pbroks13

A channel seems to return water to its own starting height.

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Two straight parallel lines crossing a background of radiating lines.

Hering illusion

Ewald Hering

Straight lines bow against a radiating background.

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The Old Violin — A violin and scraps of paper seem to hang on a wooden door.

The Old Violin

William Michael Harnett

A violin and scraps of paper seem to hang on a wooden door.

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The Librarian — A learned figure assembled from books and the equipment of reading.

The Librarian

Giuseppe Arcimboldo

A learned figure assembled from books and the equipment of reading.

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The impossible cuboid — A public sculpture appears to form an impossible cuboid.

The impossible cuboid

J. Verhoeff, D. Baas Becking, and P. Bakker; photograph by Wikifrits

A public sculpture appears to form an impossible cuboid.

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A photograph of strawberries on a plate under a cyan tint, used to demonstrate colour constancy.

Grey strawberries

Akiyoshi Kitaoka, Professor of Psychology at Ritsumeikan University

You should have the experience of red strawberries in the picture, but the picture doesn't contain any red colour.

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Impossible wooden cube — A real wooden construction looks like an impossible cube from one view.

Impossible wooden cube

Wmccallie

A real wooden construction looks like an impossible cube from one view.

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An animated red-and-green ring with striped surfaces whose apparent depth can reverse.Moving image

Ambiguous Ring

Donald E. Simanek

You should experience a sense of perceptual confusion as you note the paradoxical nature of the depicted ring.

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Overlapping black polygonal rings form the scintillating starburst pattern around a white centre.

Scintillating Starburst

This illusion was introduced to the academic literature in a publication by Karlovich & Wallisch in 2021. This illusion is also sometimes referred to as the "Sunray illusion" because it is reminiscent of sunlight breaking through the clouds. The illusion was originally created by Michael Karlovich in 2019 while designing a logo for his start-up company, Recursia Studios. Author credit: Karlovich, MW & Wallisch, P (2023).

Bright lines will appear to be coming from the centre. If you look at them directly, you will realise that they are not actually there.

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Burning Ship Fractal — A variation of complex iteration produces forms reminiscent of ships and towers.

Burning Ship Fractal

Michael Michelitsch and Otto E. Rössler

A variation of complex iteration produces forms reminiscent of ships and towers.

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Three rectangular beams joined in an apparently solid triangular loop.

Penrose triangle

Oscar Reutersvärd; independently Lionel & Roger Penrose

Three convincing corners. One impossible connection.

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The Holy Trinity — A wall painting opens into an apparently deep chapel.

The Holy Trinity

Masaccio

A wall painting opens into an apparently deep chapel.

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Barnsley Fern — A few transformations generate a surprisingly plant-like form.

Barnsley Fern

Michael Barnsley

A few transformations generate a surprisingly plant-like form.

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Enlarged image from the selected gallery entry