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Color Optical Illusions


Pacman Illusion - Jeremy Hinton

Pacman Illusion - Jeremy Hinton This is a fantastic illusion ! Stare at the cross in the center and you will see a series of events :
  • A circle of purple spots, one spot disappears clockwise.
  • A circle of purple spots, one spot turns green clockwise.
  • THE GREEN SPOT EATS THE PURPLE ONES !.
  • Only the green spot remains, circling around the cross.

Are you color blind ? - Shinobu Ishihara

Are you color blind ? - Shinobu Ishihara If you see a three on the left and the number 73 on the right, you're just fine. But if you see a five on the left, and just a bunch of spots on the right ... you may be color blind.

Phantom Dots - L. Hermann, 1870

Phantom Dots - L. Hermann A very powerful illusion ! You will clearly see gray dots on the corners of the squares. This is actually called the Hermann Grid but let's face it, phantom dots sounds way cooler.

Afterimage

Afterimage Keep staring at the white dot for thirty seconds, then stare at a white wall. What do you see ?
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Scintillating Grid, 1994

Scintillating Grid If you look at this grid, you can see phantom black dots appear and disappear.

Chromatic Adaptation - Stefan Van den Bergh, 2004

Chromatic Adaptation - Stefan Van den Bergh Look at the cute little boy on the right side. He's shown in two different colors, right ? Now gaze at the left plus sign for 20 seconds, then look at the right plus sign. The image is looking normal now ! Ain't it incredible ? This phenomenon is called chromatic adaptation. Your eyes adjust themselves to the overload of colors. When you look at the right, your eyes are still filtering out the cyan and yellow. For a while.

Scary Optical Illusion

Scary Optical Illusion Keep staring at this picture for about 20 seconds and then look at a white surface (a wall or a big piece of paper). One of the very classic illusions. The best thing is ; the afterimage seems to be a sharper picture than the original.
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Checker Shadow - Ted Adelson, 1995

Checker Shadow - Ted Adelson It's almost impossible to believe, but square A is exactly the same shade of grey as square B. To see the evidence for yourself, click on the thumbnail and then on the large picture. Even when you've seen the proof, your eyes will keep deceiving you.
URL Checker Shadow Illusion Ted Adelsons page on the Checker Shadow illusion.

False Color

False Color You'd think all blocks on top of the picture have the same color, but, well - they don't. The blocks on the upper left are the same as the ones on the lower right, the ones on the upper right are the same as the lower left.

Disappearing Dot Illusion

Disappearing Dot Illusion This is one of the most amazing illusions. Keep staring at the blue dot in the middle of the picture. The blue dot will shrink slowly and then disappear completely ! This is due to the color receptors in your eyes getting tired.

 Related Books

The Playful Eye
The Playful Eye
The Art of Optical Illusions
The Art of Optical Illusions
The Great Book of Optical Illusions
The Great Book of Optical Illusions
Dazzling Optical Illusions
Dazzling Optical Illusions
More Optical Illusions
More Optical Illusions
The Red Book
The Red Book

Planet Perplex is a comprehensive collection of optical illusions, impossible objects, hidden images, puzzles and related images.
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Copyright © 2008 Stefan Van den Bergh. All rights reserved.
URL: http://www.planetperplex.com/en/color_illusions.html
Last modified on Saturday, May 3 2008