Eye Tricks

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Starburst optical illusion trick

Does it look like a starburst on the corners?

starburst star burst illusion

What this illusion illustrates is that although it looks like there is an "airbrushed" starburst (white lines extenting from the center of the star to the corners) it is of course an OPTICAL ILLUSION! What I've actually done here is created a series of stars and placed them on top of eachother. With a slight gradient change in each successive layer.

This illusion also works with squares, but for sqares you only see the light starburst effect. It was called "vasarely's nested squares illusion. But when you try the illusion with a star, you also get the darkened shadow effect where it gives depth to the illusion. This is referred to as "Corner Angle Salience Variation". Don't look for that term on Jeopardy! anytime soon.

Perhaps the evolutionary reason for this is a fluke in our eye balls! The ganglion cells in the eye that compute the shade of a specific area have to relay that information to the brain. And while they relay the information to the brain, they do some extrapolating and that's where it gets confusing!

Best of the Best (our newest original optical illusions)
	Moving Backgrounds 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.
	9/13/2011 - Floating Wood Blocks Video Created these floating wooden blocks and attached them to a globe. Watch the video and see how the blocks follow the camera! Pretty amazing! » Continue to view the video...
	Moving Red Spiral - 7/27/2011 Sometimes, while I'm just playing around in Photoshop, something appears, as if by magic. This illusion was one of those that just jumps off the page. It's a large red spiral on a purple background that appears to jump and move. Works better for some people than others, but if you like the moving illusions, you'll love it! » Continue to see the moving spiral image...
	Same Shade Diamonds 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.
	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! » Continue and see a ghostly image...