How about a REAL PHOTOGRAPH of the thing? That had me staring in amazement for minutes... luckily the "secret" is explained below!

http://www.lipsons.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/......ing.html

I have a new favorite:
vanishing illusion http://www.ritsumei.ac.jp/~akitaoka/kieru-e.html

You can't believe your eyes. There are yellow dots all over the pattern, but you can see only one at a time.

The guy has a lot of illusions, most are illusions of motion. Look around:
http://www.ritsumei.ac.jp/~akitaoka/index-e.html

This is magic to me!
Victor

Thanks joseph and Doug for the grand illusion website. It's so great, especially the dragon sculpture illusion. I made one yesterday and I can't believe my eyes! Do yourself a favor and make one (or buy one), everyone will be amazed by it!

Bong

I like this, (http://www-bcs.mit.edu/people/adelson/ch......ion.html.) Not because it looks especially stunning, but because it provides a great example of how our brains process images and how we perceive them.

The guy has updated his site. Take a look at the incredibly strong motion in the first illusion at

http://www.ritsumei.ac.jp/~akitaoka/saishin-e.html

Hard to accept that your mind fools you like that.

/Tomas

Tomas,

That illusion is fantastic! Thanks for posting a pointer to it. It's my favorite too now that I've seen it.

I’ve seen images that created false motion effects before, but none that looked that real.

You could convince someone they were intoxicated with that!

If the image weren’t copyrighted (it is), then I would make a special jumbo deck using it. The back of all but one card would have a similar image that was altered slightly so it didn’t produce the motion effect. One special card would have a back with that image at the site. That would be the card that was forced.

After seeing the back of the special card, most, if not all people would probably realize it was an illusion after a few seconds. But the motion effect could be a secondary effect to the climax of a trick, where the apparently freely chosen card is revealed to be the “animated” card. That’s a lot more impressive than having the back just be a different color. I wonder if that idea is practical?

Bill, that is a beautiful idea. I think the motion in that image would stop if all "wheels" were made identical. As it is now there are mirror images of the wheels in every other position. Even though it's copyrighted I have a feeling that the guy who made it would be nice enough to let us borrow the design if we just ask him.

/Tomas

I have to say this thread has made my night.

Some great illusions ... I am especially impressed by the checkerboard.

My favorite is the one where you stare at a black & white image and then close your eyes and see the face of Jesus.

Have a look at the following illusion:

http://www.optillusions.com/dp/1-72.htm


I still think those wheels ARE spining around.


WOW!

These are some of the coolest sites I have seen in a long time. Thanks for sharing. I think I will use them to explain to people they can not trust their eyes or mind. Then I'll drop some heavy effects on them. I hope to have them think their eyes and head are still playing tricks on them. Thanks for this info. Tony

THe skin crawling illusion is here in java format
http://www.optillusions.com/dp/1-42.htm

Mine is "The Ring"!
A few days ago I bought Kenton Knepper's "The Ring," a very cute optical illusion. Is there anyone who has some experience with this device as a psychokinetic effect and maybe could give me some advice?

The skin crawling illusion was cool, but I do have to say I did turn down the volume. I have seen one too many of those stare at this for one minute and then a face jumps on the screen shouting at you. If anyone has been sent one of these by a so-called friend you know what I mean. Tony

I remember looking at a picture of a fire instead of my hand in the skin crawl trick and it looked like a real fire. I was about 8 and it was very impressive.

Eyes crossing, must go to other forum.

If you like Escher, there is a nice explanation of isometric ambiguity, cheating on vanishing points, and other principles of illusionary drawings at:

http://www.lhup.edu/~dsimanek/3d/illus1.htm

Yours,

Paul

Andrew mentions the computer program that spins a spiral and does voodoo to your hand when you look at it.

Bruce Kalver created a stage version of this called the "Growing and Shrinking Head". It has a similar spiral gizmo you use from a stage.

I did this a few weeks ago to a full auditorium and I was floored by the response. Boy, did this thing play well, and it was one of the most talked about effects for weeks after the show.

The audience stares at the spinning wheel as you talk them through the process, then on queue, they look at your face. It looks like your head is expanding or shrinking depending on the direction of the spiral.

You can make one yourself (I tried), but the commercial one is so good, it's worth it to just buy it if you're a stage performer.

Highly recommended - and it's a true optical illusion.

-Dave

My favourite is also the same than yours Andrew E. Miller

I firt say this at The Haunted Mansion.
http://www.frankenpaper.com/pt/franken-i......dex.html

For kids it's the rabbit eating the carrot. Put drawing close to eyes and the carrot goes into the rabbits mouth. Great giveaway for kids.