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They say that “seeing is believing,” but your eyes can play tricks on you all the time. Perspective and even toying with angles can confuse the way something looks. An image can change dimensions or even appear like its moving. Some are classics and some are modern. Don’t get me started on those magic eye books.
We’ve compiled a list of some of the top 10 optical illusions from across the web. Go down the rabbit hole and take a look. Here are some of the coolest optical illusions on the internet.
It’s that blue/gold dress thing all over again…
At first glance, you can see some blue, yellow or pink in this picture, but the more you look at it, the less colorful it seems. With the colors leaving one by one, you eventually see a white slate. Blink and it all comes back. Maybe your eyes are just getting tired. Maybe you just imagined the colors in the first place.
‘All Is Vanity’
It’s a classic optical illusion but it is still a good one. At first, it looks like a poorly-drawn skull, but the more you look at it, you realized that it is a detailed image of a woman fixing herself up in front of the mirror. The illusion is a play on words, as vanity can mean “nothingness” (which is where we get the expression “in vain” from) or the aforementioned mirror set.
Proof that your brain hates you
You are aware of what you are supposed to be looking at for this one, but your brain still won’t let you see it! You can always look at each of the dots one-by-one, but you can’t see them when scrolled out to see the whole picture. You win this one brain, this one.
On the bright side, it’s the best way to step up your Halloween costumes!
Horror movies rely on tricks and illusions; after all, even if we could hire the living dead as actual actors, most of them wouldn’t show up on camera in the first place! Body paint can even transform someone into a festering corpse, saving you the trauma of actually dying! That said, if makeup can transform someone into a monster, it makes you wonder if it can do the opposite…
The wheel in your mind keeps on turning…
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While all these images are meant to play a trick on you, like making something two-dimensional seem three-dimensional, making a still image seem like it’s moving is a whole new level. Still, it works better the farther you look at it. Seeing it too close breaks the illusion…almost.
This one’s a two-parter!
If you’re looking at this closely, you wonder just what is wrong with this chess board. The clue is that this is a two-parter. Click on the second image to see how this messes with your perspective. If you want a hint, all I am willing to say is that this is a three-dimensional model.
It’s weird they have the same taste in clothing…
Once again, it’s a classic. Sometimes said to be either “Cinderella or Her Godmother” or simply “Young Woman or Old Witch,” a simple perspective can either add or detract the years. It depends on what you see first. A dainty nose could be a wart; a coquettish choker could be a mouth. Still, it’s strange to see they share the same taste in furs, headscarves and even plumes.
This is a picture that should not exist, yet it does…
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It’s probably meant to symbolize the futility of progress or something, but you don’t go down by walking up. This should not mathematically exist. Yet, it does. We are looking right at it! To be fair, if art can defy what is scientifically and historically possible all the time, like with pictures of flying unicorns or something, then defying mathematics was the next, logical step.
Here’s one that you can make at home!
Stare at the crease in the middle of the paper and you can figure out what is going on. It will probably take some effort, but this is something that you can actually draw at home. To be fair, you can probably also just make a ladder like this out of pipe cleaners or something and place it on a folded piece of paper, but where’s the fun in that?
The one that you are all thinking of…
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This is the picture you are thinking about when you think of optical illusions. Either it is two identical faces just seconds away from an embrace or a chalice. The worst part is that you tell yourself that this could be two people making out with a cup, but the second you look at the faces, the cup disappears, and vice versa. Maybe if you color it in or something…