An optical illusion that seems to be both a circle and a square is baffling the internet here's
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When Twitter user @MartijnBAARDA posted a short video in July 2019 showing a hanging square that, when looked at from a different angle, was also a circle, people were confused.
"To be honest it's blowing my mind a little," said INSIDER science writer Dave Mosher. "How can it be square AND circular?"
Here's the image in question:
—Martijn BAARDA (@MartijnBAARDA) July 7, 2019Turns out, the illusion has stumped the internet before. It's called the "Ambiguous Cylinder Illusion," and it won the award for best optical illusion in 2016 from the Neural Correlate Society.
Basically, the shape is neither truly a square nor a circle. It is an "ambiguous cylinder" — something between a square and a circle. However, according to author of "Champions of illusion and Sleights of Mind" Stephen L. Macknik, our visual systems correct what it seems to be — a square or a circle, depending on where you're seeing it from — rather than the sort of wavy in-between shape it actually is.
"When presented with a circular shape," Macknik told INSIDER, "your brain assumes that the object is circular, rather than a really weird object [with] a circular profile in one perspective and a square from a different perspective."
Want to try making a "squircle," as Mosher has dubbed it, for yourself? Check out this tutorial, and see the baffling optical illusion in life.
- Read more:
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- An optical illusion that makes a stationary diamond look like it's moving is tripping out the internet. Here's how it works.
- In July 2019, Twitter user @MartijnBAARDA posted an image that confused those who came across it.
- In the post, he shows what appears to be a hanging square, but when the person holding the camera walks around the square to view it from the other side, it transforms into a circle.
- How is this possible? According to author of "Champions of illusion and Sleights of Mind" Stephen L. Macknik, it's based on Kokichi Sugihara's ambiguous cylinder illusion.
- Visit INSIDER's homepage for more stories.
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Follow INSIDER on Twitter.Watch: Circus performer creates an optical illusion with rings
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