Seeing the Impossible
Can you believe everything you see? Not always! Sometimes our minds and our eyes make mistake. At other times, our eyes and minds can become confused. This may be because we are looking at something called an optical illusion.
The word optical means "related to sight" - the way we see things with our eyes. An illusion is something that looks different from the way it really is. In short, an optical illusion is a kind of trick that our eyes play on us.
Look at these optical illusions and compare what you see with what your classmate see. The way wee see things is often personal, so you may not seethings the same way as someone else.
So can you trust you eyes? Perhaps the answer is "sometimes". Sometimes our eyes see something, and our minds understand it easily. At other times, we may need to look twice.
Which red dot is larger?
Most people say it's the dot on the left. Now measure the dots. The red dot on the left may seem larger because of the small blue dots around it, but they're really the same size.
Look at this picture. What do you see?
Do you see a cup, or do you see two faces? Now look again! The illusion shows two different images at the same time. Therefore, our minds have to choose which image to look as. Scientists think this choice is difficult, because different parts of your brain are getting different information. On part "see" the cup and another part "see" the faces, so the image keeps changing.
Are the circles moving ?
When you stare at this picture, you mind may tell you that the circles are moving, but this is impossible! How can a picture move? Some people think the circles seem to move because, often, when we see circle-in-circle shapes, like in car wheels or snake bodies, they are usually moving. Our brains are used to seeing these shapes move. So when our eyes see this shape, our mind infers that the image is moving. Other scientists believe the illusion of movement is caused by the tiny movements of our eyes as we look at the different colors and patterns of the picture.