I came across this neat optical illusion a few weeks back and was throughly entertained and amused by how it appeared to spin counterclockwise for me and how if I’d concentrate hard or focus closely on one part I could make it reverse its direction.

Initially I was also led down the path of believing that there was a relation between the direction of motion I saw and my left vs right side of the brain dominance. Thanks to the information I found on the NeuroLociga Blog I now know the truth behind it! Its a result of the image being 2D and the human brain tries to interpret it as a 3D object, creating the illusion of a full rotation, which due to the nature of the graphic, can be seen as clockwise, or counterclockwise motion.

Amazing how the brain behaves! I also came across a really neat compilation of optical illusions on switched.com.

I found the Charlie Chaplin mask video one to be specially mind blowing!

Link: The Trippiest Optical Illusions On The Web

Link: NeuroLogica Blog Main Page

Enjoy and be sure to check out the rest of the series:

Optical Illusions - Collection Page

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Filed under: Art, Optical Illusions