Quirks of being human
We are all human, yet we are all different from each other, we are all unique; or as someone put it "You are unique, just like everyone else." However, for the majority of us, no matter how "unique" we are, we are still human...which means most of us are susceptible to quirks in how our brain works.
So what is all this random rambling about? Well for those that are unaware, I enjoy understanding and learning how the human mind works - especially when it doesn't quite work as expected, such as when we see optical illusions. So here are a few that I would like to share.
Impossible Motion: Magnet-Like Slopes
Our brain doesn't always decipher what we see with our eyes in the real world properly. It tries to be too smart and often fails. But that's ok, since it means we can see awesome optical illusions!
Change Blindness
You've probably heard of this before - as humans we can be very "blind" to how our environment changes around us. Some rather big changes can occur and we don't notice at all.
Another change blindness example - just for fun 
Leaning Tower Illusion
So what about a still image, no videos, just a plain old image. How will your eyes (or should I say brain) trick you now?
The two images are identical...really!
That's it for now - hope you enjoyed the random selection above What I find most interesting is that for many of these "brain quirks" even though you know what is happening, even though you know the trick you still can't un-trick your brain to see what is really there.
dragon illusion
Another great illusion - and this time you get to make it! Have a look at the Three Dragons from Grand Illusions - the movie clip is really quite cool! After seeing the clip I actually went and made it straight away (much easier to make than the penguin) but sadly it didn't turn out as nice as the illusion in the video clip. It seems like you need some light behind the dragon for it to work. Though I'll still put it on my desk at work and see if I get any weird looks
clear as black and white…right?
The image above probably looks very normal - a set of everyday chess pieces (without pawns). White pieces on top covered by black clouds, and black pieces at the bottom covered by white clouds. If they don't look like chess pieces, try clicking on the picture to enlarge it - my friend thought they were teeth when he saw it on my msn display pic!
So, if we are imaginative, and assume the chess pieces are real, it would make sense that we can use them and play a normal game of chess...right? Well, not quite - because the chess pieces are identical. They are the same - pixel for pixel. If you don't believe me 'cut and paste' the chess pieces and they will magically "change colour". Even if you believe me you can give it a go, quite mind blowing if you ask me!
shoe print illusion
Was going to post this up last week, but then saw the free penguin/tux and I just had to post that first Anyway, this is the first of hopefully many cool optical illusions that I will post up. I love optical illusions, and I'm going to try and post up "rare" illusions on my blog - so stay tuned!
In my opinion, this illusion is extra cool because nothing was done deliberately to get the illusion effect. The photo was actually taken by Marty, and every now and then it appears on her laptop slideshow screensaver (everytime it appears I point at it and go psycho )