Eye Tricks

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Scary Faces Illusion

Here's an original illusion we created. You'll see that the ghostly faces seem to disappear after you watch the animation for awhile. We present two versions:

First Image: you'll see a high-contrast version where the after-image effect is quite strong, and you'll see the reverse of the face in the places where it is not.

Second Illusion: the second version of the illusion is on a gray background, where you may see more of the ghost faces disappear, because of the similar contrast. Both are fun!

Instructions: Stare at the center spot for at least 45 seconds. Sometimes it takes up to 2 minutes to see the illusion! Don't worry, nothing is going to jump out at you!

scary rotating ghost faces - High Contrast Version

scary rotating ghost faces - Low Contrast Version

Similar versions of this optical illusion have been created before, but I wanted to do something a little more interesting than just spots, and have something that you could share with your friends just in time for Halloween.

If you stare long enough, you really will see the faces seem to disappear, because your brain can only keep track of so many moving objects at once... and once the after image starts to get stronger and stronger, it adds to the effect on your eyes and brain to make this a most astonishing optical illusion!

Please rate this illusion/picture. Your ratings help us choose which new optical illusions to create:

Best of the Best ...

Most Popular for October 2009:

	Same Shade Diamonds Our newest optical illusion. We just created it on 10/10/2009 Wow! It will look like the diamonds on the top are much darker than the diamonds on the bottom. You won't believe how amazing this incredible optical illusion is.
	Moving Backgrounds Created 9/24/2009 It moves! You must zoom in to get the full illusion. You'll see the rings rotate, even though they are not moving at all. We've created several sizes so you can use as your desktop background.
	Scary Faces Illusion Created 9/17/2009 Watch as the scary faces disappear before your eyes. The longer you stare the stronger the illusion. Perfect to send to your friends for Halloween!
	The Obama Illusion We made this original Barack Obama Illusion and then we made it famous! Stare for about 30 seconds and you'll see his ghostly image appear on the wall!
	Valentines Day Love Test Illusion This is one of our most highly rated illusions by our visitors. Watch the hearts disappear before your very eyes! This is really cool. You'll start to see the hearts disappear as you fixate at the center. Don't miss it.
	Moving Spiral Illusion A version of our original moving spiral illusion was recently published in a popular college textbook. It uses multiple illusory principles to give the illusion that it is moving when it is absolutely not moving. Big enough to be your desktop background!
	Build Your Own Impossible Triangle Instructions so you can build your own impossible triangle. Tell M.C. Escher that it's not so impossible after all! Comes with a printable PDF guide with dotted lines for the folds and clearly marked lines to cut. See pictures of visitors submitted triangles too!

If you don't have time to see the hundreds of illusions today, see if you can at least catch all of these...

Cool Optical Illusions Blog - Don't miss it!
Love Test - Don't you just love optical illusions.
Blue Spiral Wallpaper - Love it!
Moving Spiral
Scary Illusion
Optical Illusion Collection
Inverted American Flag
Freaky Desktop Wallpaper
Floating 3d Cube Sculpture - HOT
Rotating Moving Spots - Very Strong.
Build your own impossible triangle - A classic, one of our most popular of all time.
Color Blindness Test - Better test yourself before it's too late, like it was for Dwayne in the movie Little Miss Sunshine!
Illusion Links
Jesus Illusion - Always fun, even if you've already seen it!

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