86% of viewers are fooled by this illusion, are you in the 14% difference?

The image below is a very special illusion, when expanded to full screen (or you can see the original version here), most people will see the black spot in the center expanding and feel like they’re going in and down the black hole.

This scientific illusion has given researchers more insight into how human vision works, and it shows how our perception of the world around us is shaped by our brains.

This illusion created by Akiyoshi Kitaoka, it is a completely static image with small black dots arranged in positions around the large black spot in the center. According to the study, this arrangement creates the illusion of false movement, while also causing the observer’s pupils to widen.

This reaction can occur no matter where the observer is, even when they are viewing the mirage in a well-lit room where pupillary adjustment would not normally be required.

The researchers believe this illusion demonstrates how our brains compensate for the processing time needed to perceive the world around us in real time. While we think the brain is processing what we perceive immediately, it can actually take around 100 milliseconds to understand the data generated when light hits our retinas.

That is why our brains need to develop these compensatory mechanisms and constantly make predictions about what we are and will perceive.

Another image demonstrating this phenomenon is Akiyoshi Kitaoka’s “Asahi” illusion. This is an illusion of brightness, our brain perceives the white in the middle as much brighter than the white around it, when in reality both have exactly the same RGB value and brightness. The brightness of the image is completely uniform. Researchers have also found that the viewer’s pupils constrict when observing this illusion, even if the light in their surroundings doesn’t change.

It is believed that this illusion causes a physical reaction in the pupil because the brain is trying to protect the retina from sudden bright light, which not only temporarily inhibits our ability to see, but also potentially. damage to the retina.

The central area of ​​the Asahi illusion is not brighter than the other white areas, but the arrangement of shapes and gradations from dark to light produce a similar perceptual correlation to walking through a forest. densely wooded and occasionally caught a glimpse of the sun shining through the foliage.

While the person looking at the photo isn’t actually at risk of eye damage like looking at the sun, this is what the brain predicts will happen and the pupils react accordingly.

In the case of the black hole illusion, the researchers found that the observer’s pupils widened when looking at the image, as the viewer’s brain would perceive they were moving toward a significantly darker space. compared to the current environment.

The brain compensates first by getting the eyes ready to collect more light. The illusion of moving forward thanks to the lightened edge of the dark spot, creating motion blur; that is why the observer sees the black spot getting bigger and bigger, as one would see when walking towards the dark cave.

About 86% of the study participants were shown a photo showing pupillary reaction, and the group was not sure why 14% did not. It is unclear what makes these people different, and whether this difference puts them at a disadvantage when navigating their surroundings.

Reference: Gizmodo