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September 22, 2005
How do they move??
The most fascinating illusion I found is called “rotating snakes.”
http://www.psy.ritsumei.ac.jp/~akitaoka/rotsnakee.html
I think the snakes appear to “rotate” because our brains try to make sense of a picture by relating to a familiar and remembered object. If you notice, if you look at one of the spinning snakes, it doesn’t move, but the others will. This must have to do with our peripheral vision. If we don’t concentrate on an object or see it directly, our minds associate it with the closest “relative” (per say) of the object. Our eyes continue to go around and around the snake’s body (peripherally of course) and we associate the roundness with motion. The fragments also help with the illusion because they create “steps” that our eyes would want to keep going around on. In a sense, it could be our innate inquisitiveness that makes our minds want to keep trying to associate it to a memorized figure.
-Jessica Yeich
Posted by lcisyeich at September 22, 2005 05:04 PM
Comments
I also picked this illusion, but I admire your attempt to explain it because, personally, I didn't try to explain it because I couldn't think of anything. Good Job!
Posted by: Ariel at September 22, 2005 10:36 PM
I also picked this illusion! And I found a comprehensive explanation - it has to do with the little sections of color. Check out my blog to read more.
Nice to know I'm not the only one who thought this was such a clever optical illusion.
~ Nanette Savides
Posted by: Nanette Savides at September 25, 2005 12:45 PM