Here’s the newly anointed best visual illusion of 2010. No fancy computer graphics. Just cardboard, glue, and some wooden balls. Fabulous.
[Update: Thanks to Sam Mackrill for directing us to the inventor's web site, which includes building instructions.]
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"Celebrated curiosity monger"
Carl Zimmer writes about science regularly for the New York Times and magazines such as Discover, where he is a contributing editor and columnist.
He is the author of twelve books, the most recent of which is Science Ink: Tattoos of the Science Obsessed. His website is carlzimmer.com and his address is blog at carlzimmer dot com .
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May 11th, 2010 at 1:35 pm
That’s almost as amazing as effin’ magnets — how do they work?
May 11th, 2010 at 1:37 pm
Great stuff. The only clue all is not as it seems is the travel time for the ball on the ramp at the top of the screen. It’s slightly less than for a ball on the ramp at the bottom of the screen. I only noticed that after the 3rd viewing.
May 11th, 2010 at 1:58 pm
Niiiice. I envy those people who have a grasp of perspective. Like Julian Beever and his chalk drawings. Some fantastic stuff. Thanks for sharing!!
May 11th, 2010 at 2:38 pm
Neat
May 11th, 2010 at 3:31 pm
forced perspective. Used in movies quite a bit back in the day
May 11th, 2010 at 5:15 pm
I’d really like the plans to make one of these.
May 11th, 2010 at 6:01 pm
Awesome video!
I don’t understand how some of you can say you watched this video 3 times and don’t understand how it works… The camera moves at about 30 seconds into the movie and shows you how the illusion was created…
Anyways though, cool stuff!
May 11th, 2010 at 7:44 pm
@Scott: I had no idea you were a Juggalo…. I’m so disillusioned now!
May 12th, 2010 at 2:42 am
This is amazing.
May 12th, 2010 at 3:08 am
[...] blatantly flogging this from Carl Zimmer who flogged it from Koukichi Sugihara. I know, I know, but it’s too good to pass up. [...]
May 12th, 2010 at 3:21 am
@Shane: Yeah, the Lord of the Rings movies used it quite a lot to get the hobbits looking smaller than Gandalf. Sneaky, but awesomely clever.
May 12th, 2010 at 8:20 am
Neat illusion. To me it seems similar to the Ames room illusion. In the Ames room illusion, a room is constructed such that, from one view it looks like a normal room, but from any other viewpoint its clear that the walls are distorted and the floor is slanted. The important thing in both the Ames room illusion and the magnetic ball illusion is that, from the start view perspective, the illusory view is a possible correct interpretation of the visual input, but the visual data are ambiguous. Rotating the perspective shows that the visual system made the wrong guess. Real Ames rooms are neat and have been constructed in several museums.
I looked for a link and found this video of Ramachandarun explaining the Ames room:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ttd0YjXF0no
Actually, I don’t really like Ramachandran’s explanation. The magnet balls and Ames room illusion are due to the visual system trying to create a 3D representation of the word from 2D data (the flat retina). Ramachanran’s explanation of the expectation of parallel walls mostly misses the boat. Our visual system uses inferences from linear perspective, such as that lines whose projections converge at the horizon are parallel. Parallel walls may play a role but are secondary.
I’m trying to guess what mistakes the visual system is making in the magnetic balls illusion. Is it that the alleys are equal length? That the platform is in the center? that the pillars holding the alleys are vertical? Are equal height? Equal width? All of the above? My guess is that only 1 or a few of the mis-guesses of visual perception are the core of the illusion. Putting them all together makes it very compelling — and makes the construction of the illusion brilliant.
May 12th, 2010 at 9:03 am
Plans can be found on inventor’s (Koukichi Sugihara) website:
http://home.mims.meiji.ac.jp/~sugihara/hobby/hobbye.html
May 12th, 2010 at 3:38 pm
Ow wow, this is superb!
May 12th, 2010 at 4:26 pm
[...] nor computer operator is so smart)! [Impossible Motions and Illusion of the Year Contest via Discover via Neatorama] Tagged:clipsdesignmagnetismoptical [...]
May 12th, 2010 at 7:10 pm
“The only clue all is not as it seems is the travel time for the ball on the ramp at the top of the screen.”
The rolling uphill thing is a bit of a clue as well…
May 12th, 2010 at 11:02 pm
[...] miejsce oraz archiwum z lat poprzednich) można obejrzeć na stronie konkursu. Znalezione via The Loom @ Discover Magazine. AKPC_IDS += "6460,"; Ciekawe? Zaproponuj [...]
May 13th, 2010 at 5:11 am
[...] Discover] [...]
May 13th, 2010 at 6:12 am
[...] vi o vídeo fiquei bastante confuso mas no fundo, tudo não passa de uma questão de perspectiva Fonte Esta notícia já foi lida 0 vezesOutras [...]
May 13th, 2010 at 6:05 pm
[...] del viernes, pero es que no me he podido resistir a poner tamaña maravilla vista en el blog de Carl Zimmer. El vídeo en sí es la mejor ilusión del año según la web de illusioncontest, y tal como dice [...]
May 18th, 2010 at 1:02 pm
Just wonderful.. Brilliant.. EFFING GENIOUS:D
Btw.. What’s the music that’s playe in the video called? Anybody know?
October 16th, 2010 at 12:47 am
I’ve seen the possible. Therefore, that cannot be the IMpossible, because I am…. and therfore, I is, and so be it.
November 25th, 2010 at 3:05 am
Thats Crazy….I love it, it had me fooled for a min.