One thing I love about having cool friends like psychologist Richard Wiseman: I see all kinds of things I never would have otherwise. On his blog Richard posted one of the best optical illusions I have ever seen:
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Oh baby! Let your eyes roam over it; the squares appear to form a spiral pattern. But then more carefully trace over the pattern — block some of it with your hand to be sure — and you see they are aligned in perfect circles.
Still not sure? Let me prove it: all I did was draw in circles.
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Even with the circles right on top of them it’s hard to see the squares laid out in anything other than spirals.
Incredible.
I love illusions like this, ones that persist even after you can see the trick. And as always, I like to point out that when someone swears they saw something and then say "Seeing is believing," you can point them to things like this and say, "Not always." Remember: it’s easy to be fooled, especially when you’re not expecting it.
Richard posted a couple of other illusions on his blog, so go look. Also, you can follow him on Twitter!
August 18th, 2009 at 5:05 pm
honestly, ive seen this before. and i saw the circles very clearly. i kind of see the optical illusion i think, but i see the circles more.
August 18th, 2009 at 5:14 pm
I love it!
August 18th, 2009 at 5:14 pm
Try looking at the illusion while squinting like Clint Eastwood.
August 18th, 2009 at 5:14 pm
YOINK! – That is going into my demonstrations!
August 18th, 2009 at 5:16 pm
That is a really good illusion. This one is even harder to believe, but it’s true: both the blue and green spirals are the same color. http://blog.ted.com/2009/06/amazing_illusio.php
August 18th, 2009 at 5:26 pm
If you blur your vision, you can see the circles. The illusion seems to be caused by the tilt of the squares. If you blur enough so you can’t tell they are titled, the spirals disappear.
August 18th, 2009 at 5:32 pm
Those are circles?!?! They look like a bucha squares to me …
August 18th, 2009 at 5:35 pm
I worked at a Quizno’s this summer and this optical illusion is on the bags of our kids meals. Strange coincidence…
August 18th, 2009 at 5:40 pm
Excellent. I like the way the image appears to shift. Sometimes I can see the circles.
My 5 year old however only sees it as 4 circles! Not everyone processes visual information in exactly the same way.
August 18th, 2009 at 5:48 pm
I keep forgetting. Is it you or Richard who is the evil twin?
August 18th, 2009 at 5:52 pm
Once the circles are drawn, the illusion totally disappears for me.
I hate optical illusions…I hope no one ties me down and holds my eyes open making me look at them all day!
August 18th, 2009 at 5:54 pm
Great illusion! For whatever reason, when I scroll this image up and down (on the screen), it even looks like its growing in some parts / shrinking in others. Static confusion layered on top of motion sickness.
August 18th, 2009 at 5:54 pm
@Romeo
The one with the goatee… d’oh.
August 18th, 2009 at 5:59 pm
I see the circle in the middle, and the rest is just a mess swimming around to me – Evil, now my head hurts.
Like the vampire poster on Richard’s blog… it’s clever and doesn’t give me a headache
August 18th, 2009 at 6:02 pm
for any who haven’t seen it, my favorite Wiseman illusion is still this old banana gambit:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QNSbcO86Zag
August 18th, 2009 at 6:42 pm
I see the illusion first but very quickly notice the circles. So I pretty much see both at the same time. However, when the circles are drawn in the illusion breaks. I thoroughly enjoy flipping my attention back and forth between them, it’s very cool.
August 18th, 2009 at 6:44 pm
Wow, that’s a good one. @_@
August 18th, 2009 at 6:45 pm
Cool! Square circles, er, I mean round squares, oh frak, never mind.
Too much confusion here, said the circle to the square but a spiral is the answer, to the upside down stair,,,
Dang, I WISH that song would quite spiraling round my head.
I loves illusions but obsessions,,,not so much.
GAry 7
August 18th, 2009 at 6:45 pm
That’s pretty awesome. Good think I’m not high right now. Wait a second…that’s not good at all.
August 18th, 2009 at 6:51 pm
[...] Image from Richard Wiseman via Phil Plait. [...]
August 18th, 2009 at 7:06 pm
I can almost see the spiral, but I’m pretty much just seeing the circles, even before you pointed it out…
August 18th, 2009 at 7:07 pm
Good thing your daughter knows how to use Photoshop, right, Phil?
August 18th, 2009 at 7:08 pm
AggieAndrew: nice observation! One of the times when LOWER resolution actually leads to a better answer. If you use a pen to punch a small hole in a sheet of paper and view thru the hole, the illusion disappears (well, at least for me). I’m one of the many who have trouble seeing anything but the circles once they’re drawn on the figure.
August 18th, 2009 at 7:33 pm
I collect optical illusions off of the web. I am also an Escher fan.
Optical illusions are fascinating because it is a form of psychology, seeing how the eye-brain interface can be confused by the input of such artwork
August 18th, 2009 at 7:39 pm
I saw they were circles of squares right away, but it took me almost a full minute to see the Vampire image. I wonder if that means I’m cracked.
I also noticed that if you nervously scroll up and down, the circles appear to be moving. Nice.
August 18th, 2009 at 7:57 pm
I see the spirals, but if I scroll the page, then they immediately turn into circles. Weird.
August 18th, 2009 at 8:05 pm
To me, it looks like a Fibonacci sequence.
August 18th, 2009 at 8:57 pm
Spirally Goodness
I love optical illusions. The Bad Astronomer has a posting about one I hadn’t seen. Take a look here.
August 18th, 2009 at 9:25 pm
Am I the only one who sees Jesus?
August 18th, 2009 at 9:59 pm
I still prefer the chess board with shadows, with the “these two squares are the same color” illusion. Is this the same guy? I can’t find the URL for the other one.
August 18th, 2009 at 10:14 pm
I wanted to vote for the cow! My eye doctor gave me a wallet card of that picture when I was a teenager, a good many years ago, so I recognized it instantly. I suspect it originated as a damaged photograph.
August 18th, 2009 at 10:16 pm
3. IVAN3MAN Says:
Try looking at the illusion while squinting like Clint Eastwood.
Looking lucky, punk?
J/P=?
August 18th, 2009 at 10:22 pm
I sometimes look at pictures of planets or the moon and instead of craters I’ll see raised bumps. And while I know they are recessed craters, often I can’t shake the illusion – sometimes I have to download and rotate the image to make it behave.
August 18th, 2009 at 10:41 pm
anybody else see something like this:
http://tinyurl.com/ovmlfz
That’s the closest i can come up with…but i’m not seeing just a spiral, it’s more like interwoven circles.
I can’t wait till the kids wake up tomorrow and we go look at the rest of the blog!
August 18th, 2009 at 11:07 pm
@kuhnigget
Am I the only one who sees Jesus?
Generally or when you look at optical illusions?
August 19th, 2009 at 1:43 am
Cory – yes, that’s what I see (not that exactly). Not a clean spiral at all, both sides of each circle seem to be tilted in…now my eyes hurt.
I saw the vampire so quickly I never saw it as spilled blood – I can’t refocus on it that way.
August 19th, 2009 at 4:23 am
Illusions are … , well, illusions. (¬_¬) They demonstrate that the mind is embodied, not that we are constantly fooled.
[But apparently our algorithms will suffer from them as well, as more and more vision routines uses the impressive compression routines evolution have come up with.]
But they do it well and reveal the specific problems. This one was pretty good even if apparently not perfect.
August 19th, 2009 at 5:54 am
OK, that’s another illusion that’s going to be turned into a PostScript file.
August 19th, 2009 at 6:11 am
TY – that is a very cool illusion! I’m going to share it with my family.
August 19th, 2009 at 6:24 am
[...] Richard Wiseman via Phil Plait’s Bad Astronomy comes this image of squares arranged in concentric [...]
August 19th, 2009 at 6:49 am
Okay, this is interesting… had my wife look at it and I quizzed her.
She saw the circles first, then the “rosette” (what the rest of us call the spirals) and when she saw the circles drawn in she saw a single long spiral.
25. shannypez
… and confirmed when you move the page up and down quickly the circles rotate back and forth.
August 19th, 2009 at 6:56 am
OK, I’ve created a PostScript file – where can I post it?
It’s not a 100% copy but anyone can easily tweak the file and fiddle around with what makes the best effect.
August 19th, 2009 at 8:36 am
@ Shane:
Only when I’m watching the guy mow my neighbor’s lawn.
Slap! Ow! Dios mio!
August 19th, 2009 at 8:48 am
blah I don’t see spirals. I see circles, and I get a headache. I always failed those 3d-picture things too. I’m that guy who can’t see the damned sailboat.
::jealous::
August 19th, 2009 at 8:49 am
This is my favourite optical illusion ever
http://www.michaelbach.de/ot/mot_adapt/index.html
You can turn off buddha and use it to look at your hand and practically anything in the room.
The effect is really good
August 19th, 2009 at 9:30 am
Makes me kind’a dizzy if I stare at it too long.
August 19th, 2009 at 10:04 am
Argle!!!! I already HAD a headache!
August 19th, 2009 at 11:13 am
I see two crossing spirals — first counterclockwise, then clockwise. And then my eyes explode.
I find it impossible to see circles in the first picture, despite knowing they’re there.
August 19th, 2009 at 11:32 am
Awesome! But if I close one eye I can see it the way it is, with both eyes open I see the spiral. Weird. Thanks
August 19th, 2009 at 12:06 pm
I was blown away by this one – The Amazing Color Changing Card Trick
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mNF8AzjC21s
August 19th, 2009 at 3:40 pm
Aaaahhh!!! My eyes they burn!
When I try to see the circles I can feel a headache coming, my eyes just can’t focus on the circle.
August 19th, 2009 at 7:24 pm
[...] Link [...]
August 19th, 2009 at 8:19 pm
decent, but no… takes about 3 seconds to realize what’s going on without reading the description
August 19th, 2009 at 8:50 pm
I see a schooner!
August 19th, 2009 at 9:40 pm
Anyone colorblind? Does it still work then?
August 19th, 2009 at 9:54 pm
GarrrrHHHH!!!
I had to block out most of it with my hand to keep it from moving. Must be a magic animation that knows to stop when I’m looking at it. Kind of like the angels in Blink. Seriously, I had to scan across it slowly with a piece of paper to prove to myself that it was a static image and not an animated GIF. When I look at the whole thing, I see multiple counter-rotating spirals and get dizzy. Of course, I just watched the U-Tube vid about protein synthesis that someone linked to in one of the “Shine a Light” comments, so maybe I’m getting flashbacks.
August 19th, 2009 at 10:06 pm
[...] you don’t believe it, see for yourself. Original Article Comments [...]
August 19th, 2009 at 11:16 pm
Well, it’s greyscale… so…
August 20th, 2009 at 1:53 am
I agree with Ivan. Look at innermost circle and the trick doesn’t vanish but can be seen just with the tail of the eye.
Alf
August 20th, 2009 at 6:36 am
[...] Square Circle Spiral — Bad Astronomy Blog with a very cool optical illusion. [...]
August 20th, 2009 at 7:22 am
Ivan Says:
Aaahh arent you special, I wish we could all be as special as you.
August 20th, 2009 at 8:04 am
If you close your eyes slightly or view it from a distance the effect disappears. I think it’s when the black blends into the background leaving the white standing out. Up close it’s hard to make the circles out.
Really cool!
August 20th, 2009 at 8:54 am
Here’s the same illusion with more squares and rings
http://people.csail.mit.edu/alvin/pinna/Intersect512.png
Tilting the squares in every other ring by 90 degrees actually changes the illusion from this weird intersectiony thing into a spiraly illusion
http://people.csail.mit.edu/alvin/pinna/Spiral512.png
This particular illusion was created by Pinna and Gregory in 2002, and our lab recently did some research on it!
And we can make it more dramatic by filtering the image a little:
http://people.csail.mit.edu/alvin/pinna/Ted512.png
Here’s an animation I created going between the intersecting-circles illusion to the spiral illusion, the motion is very subtle but your perception of the two illusions switching is pretty dramatic
http://people.csail.mit.edu/alvin/pinna/pinna.gif
There is no effect when all the squares are the same color
http://people.csail.mit.edu/alvin/pinna/White512.png
the background color of the image actually makes a difference. The effect only appears when the background luminance is between the two colors of the squares.
http://people.csail.mit.edu/alvin/pinna/greyscalepinna.png
http://people.csail.mit.edu/alvin/pinna/greyscalepinna_effect.png
We actually have recently submitted an abstract to VSS that explains (most) of this illusion as a by-product of how we represent visual information. And we can even make images that are guesses of the perception of the illusion using that representation:
http://people.csail.mit.edu/alvin/pinna/intersectionmongrel.png
http://people.csail.mit.edu/alvin/pinna/spiralmongrel.png
(note the spirally-ness or the intertwinyness)
and for a control:
http://people.csail.mit.edu/alvin/pinna/whitemongrel.png
poster download with more details is here: http://people.csail.mit.edu/alvin/pinna/pinna_v7.pdf
August 20th, 2009 at 9:43 am
Stephen, I’ve seen the expanding Budda effect when on the rear platform of a high speed (in US terms–pretty slow to those in Europe or Japan) train which comes to a stop after a period at speed.
August 20th, 2009 at 10:55 am
for me they moved.
August 20th, 2009 at 1:08 pm
[...] Square Circle Spiral | Bad Astronomy | Discover Magazine Posted on August 20, 2009 by photozz Square Circle Spiral | Bad Astronomy | Discover Magazine. [...]
August 20th, 2009 at 1:12 pm
When I am moving my head in toward the screen I see the circles clearly but briefly.
The professionals should probably have some explanation for this.
August 20th, 2009 at 2:36 pm
I see only spirals. Even after the lines are drawn through the circles, my eyes (brain?) still only see spirals.
My daughter only sees circles. No matter how long she studied the picture she didn’t see the spirals. She could never make out those 3D posters that were so popular a few years ago either, while I could spot the dolphin or hand or whatever right away.
Interesting.
August 20th, 2009 at 4:07 pm
I don’t know if it’s just me or not, but I see 4 circles, no illusion at all. Am I missing something? Not trying to be a jerk, just really don’t see it at all!
August 20th, 2009 at 5:34 pm
[...] Square Circle Spiral | Bad Astronomy | Discover MagazineThis is one of the best visual illusions I’ve seen in a while. addthis_pub = ‘econtech’; addthis_options = ‘email, digg, delicious, google, newsvine, reddit, stumbleupon, technorati, twitter, more ‘; Posted by: computer.economist on 20 Aug 2009 at 17:33 -0500 Categories: Links [...]
August 20th, 2009 at 7:48 pm
A bit OT: Here’s a report from today where someone claimed they saw a helicopter crashing but it was just a 2′ toy. Kind of blows holes in the “it was x feet across” and “moving y miles per hour” statements UFO sightings bring.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090821/ap_on_fe_st/us_odd_toy_chopper_crash
August 21st, 2009 at 2:14 am
E pur si muove!
August 21st, 2009 at 3:54 am
[...] Square Circle SpiralAugust 18, 2009 [...]
August 21st, 2009 at 6:57 am
All you have to do is squint your eyes and the circles tend to disappear.
August 21st, 2009 at 2:17 pm
[...] Square Circle Spiral (cool optical illusion) [...]
August 22nd, 2009 at 12:02 am
oh god my brain wants it to be a spiral IT WANTS TO BE A SPIRAL OHHHHHH GAAAAAAAAAAAANNNNNNNN (paf)
August 23rd, 2009 at 2:52 pm
Shrink the page and the circles appear.
August 26th, 2009 at 2:03 pm
[...] Square Circle Spiral – This makes my head hurt. I love this stuff.tags: neuroscience illusion graphics Leave a Reply [...]
August 29th, 2009 at 2:17 am
[...] at Brain melty optical illusion http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2009/08/18/square-circle-spiral/ [...]
August 29th, 2009 at 4:59 pm
There has to be someway to incorporate this into camouflage for military applications.
October 19th, 2009 at 2:40 pm
[...] Would you be interested to know that it’s actually a series of concentric perfect circles? [...]
October 19th, 2009 at 2:40 pm
[...] Would you be interested to know that it’s actually a series of concentric perfect circles? [...]
February 10th, 2010 at 10:40 am
I can see the circles if I relax focus, but it’s a persistent illusion. The one with the lines drawn in completely breaks it for me though.
September 18th, 2010 at 3:11 am
Obviously photoshopped.
October 5th, 2010 at 8:03 am
“And as always, I like to point out that when someone swears they saw something and then say “Seeing is believing,” you can point them to things like this and say, “Not always.”"
Uh, no you can’t.
October 5th, 2010 at 8:05 am
“There has to be someway to incorporate this into camouflage for military applications.”
OH MY GOD, YES, THIS MAN MUST BE JESUS
They already do, you oaf.
November 5th, 2010 at 11:34 am
Hmm, nope, I can’t see spirals… All I see are circumferences made out of squares. I see the inner ones kind of dislodged from the center when I give them a glance but not spirals, even before I read the ‘trick’ is something wrong with me? =P
November 5th, 2010 at 1:16 pm
I scrolled down to see the first image in full, and discovered a secondary illusion: the smaller shapes appear to move around the circumferences of the circles as I scroll– and the interpreted movement looks as if it’s following a spiral, not a circle, even though I can see (with effort) that I’m looking at circles, not spirals.
Odd one!