These Optical Illusions Will Crush Your Sense of Reality

Bright Side

Get ready to have your brain twisted by some mind-bending optical illusions! One of the wildest is the Thatcher Effect, or Thatcher Illusion—it’s when an upside-down face looks normal, but flip it right-side up, and suddenly, the features are hilariously distorted. This happens because our brains process faces differently when they're inverted, so we miss the weirdness. But that’s just the start—other illusions, like the Ames Room, mess with your sense of size and perspective, making one person look giant and another tiny. Then there’s the Café Wall Illusion, where straight lines appear slanted because of contrasting patterns. Each of these illusions proves your eyes can play some seriously sneaky tricks on your brain.  Credit: Spinning Dancer: by Nobuyuki Kayahara, CC BY-SA 3.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Spinning_Dancer.gif LilFinDelfin / Reddit Checker shadow illusion: by Edward H. Adelson, CC BY-SA 4.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Checker_shadow_illusion.svg m33gs / Reddit Animation is created by Bright Side.  ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Music from TheSoul Sound: https://thesoul-sound.com/   Check our Bright Side podcast on Spotify and leave a positive review! https://open.spotify.com/show/0hUkPxD34jRLrMrJux4VxV   Subscribe to Bright Side: https://goo.gl/rQTJZz ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Our Social Media: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/brightside Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/brightside.official TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@brightside.official?lang=en Telegram: https://t.me/bright_side_official   Stock materials (photos, footages and other): https://www.depositphotos.com https://www.shutterstock.com https://www.eastnews.ru ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  For more videos and articles visit: http://www.brightside.me  ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- This video is made for entertainment purposes. We do not make any warranties about the completeness, safety and reliability. Any action you take upon the information in this video is strictly at your own risk, and we will not be liable for any damages or losses. It is the viewer's responsibility to use judgement, care and precaution if you plan to replicate.

Transcript

00:00Isn't Harry Styles looking kind of strange to you?

00:04Yeah, he's upside down and all, but that's not what I'm talking about.

00:08There is something else bizarre happening here, and I'll give you one second to figure

00:12it out.

00:13Really pay attention to every tiny detail in this photo.

00:16So, did you catch it?

00:19Look at his mouth and his eyes.

00:20Even though everything else is flipped, his mouth and his eyes look normal.

00:24I mean they're upright, but I bet you probably only noticed after I pointed it out, right?

00:29This phenomenon is known as the inverted face illusion.

00:33See, our brains are wired to recognize faces in their usual upright position, taking on

00:38the whole face at once and spotting details almost instantly.

00:42But when a face is flipped upside down, it's suddenly a lot harder to catch anything unusual.

00:47So at first glance, you might think the mouth and eyes are upside down too, just like everything

00:52else.

00:53Warning, this is not just a boring image of black and white stripes.

00:59I promise there is something, or better yet, someone, hidden behind those bars.

01:05To see it, all you have to do is shake your head quickly.

01:08If you're trying to avoid a headache or shaking your head in front of your co-workers seems,

01:13well, odd, there is another trick.

01:15If you're on a laptop, tilt the screen, step back, and look at the image from a side angle.

01:20Can you see Taylor Swift appearing on the screen?

01:23Yep, there she is!

01:27There is something about masks that just creeps me out.

01:31And things are about to get even creepier here.

01:34Right now, it's just a mask turning really slowly.

01:37Okay, keep going.

01:38Oh, wait, are we seeing the front of the mask again?

01:42Actually no, the mask is still spinning.

01:45This is called the hollow face illusion, also known as the hollow mask illusion.

01:50What happens here is that our minds are tricked into seeing the back of the mask, the concave

01:55side, as the same as the front, or convex side.

01:59In other words, instead of seeing the back of the mask as hollow, most of us see it as

02:03a regular face popping out toward us.

02:07This trick works because our brains rely more on what they expect to see, a 3D face sticking

02:12out, than what is really there.

02:15It's like our brain just says, nope, I'm sure this is a regular face.

02:20Here's another spinning illusion for you.

02:22Tell me in the comments, do you see a girl spinning to the right or to the left?

02:28This is called the spinning dancer or the silhouette illusion, and it's been puzzling

02:32minds all over the internet since 2003.

02:36The reason is that while some people see the dancer spinning clockwise, others swear she

02:40is moving counterclockwise.

02:42So who's correct?

02:44Short answer, both.

02:46Long answer, it just has an optical illusion that messes with our depth perception.

02:51At certain points in her spin, you can't really tell if her arms, for instance, are

02:55moving in front or behind her body.

02:58So your brain just guesses, creating the illusion that she could be spinning either way.

03:03What makes it more interesting is that if we add a few lines, suddenly your brain isn't

03:08confused anymore.

03:09It can now totally tell which direction the girl is spinning, even if it works both ways.

03:17Can you spot something odd with these photos?

03:19For some strange reason, you might not have noticed that the top half of both photos is

03:24the exact same picture of Ryan Gosling.

03:27But why do we think they're two different photos?

03:30This effect is called the composite face illusion.

03:33Basically, when you line up the top half of one face with the bottom half of another,

03:37our brains interpret it as a completely new face.

03:41The bottom half messes with how we see the top half, and vice versa, making it all blend

03:46together.

03:47This illusion only really works when the face is upright.

03:50Flip it upside down or misalign the halves, and suddenly our brains can separate them

03:54more easily, letting us spot the original faces faster.

03:59This way, it's much easier to see that the two top halves are exactly the same.

04:06Why is Adele's head just floating in the middle of nowhere?

04:10Let's throw in a background for some context.

04:12Whoa, ok, that wasn't exactly what I had in mind, but alright, let's go with it.

04:17Now look around Adele.

04:19Do you think that the background is moving or not?

04:22Got your answer?

04:23Well, the background seems to be moving, but it's actually totally still and flat.

04:29If you don't believe me, just pause the video and you'll see that those purple and yellow

04:33waves keep moving, like crazy!

04:36The reason is that this pattern was designed to trick your brain into seeing motion with

04:40contrasting colors, shapes, and positions.

04:43Our brain interprets change in light as movement, so the lines look like they're moving.

04:49But here's something even cooler.

04:51Focus your eyes only on Adele and try your best not to blink.

04:55Just keep staring at her.

04:57Now tell me, did you notice how the illusory motion seems to slow down?

05:01Wild, right?

05:04A lot of optical illusions we see online play with the contrast effect.

05:08This is all about how our brains perceive things based on what they're compared to,

05:13so our perceptions can be enhanced or diminished based on these comparisons.

05:18Wanna see it?

05:20Let's take a photo of Dua Lipa.

05:22Double it and make it look greyish.

05:24See, they're exactly the same color and tone.

05:28But suddenly, your perception might change.

05:31One of them will get a light grey background and the other will get a black one.

05:36Now the grey tones in Dua Lipa's photos look different from each other, right?

05:41If you can't see the effect with Dua Lipa's picture, don't worry.

05:44Here's an easier example.

05:46Trust me, the two inner grey rectangles are exactly the same color, but you're probably

05:51seeing the bottom one as darker.

05:54That's because this small rectangle is surrounded by a lighter shade compared to the top one.

05:59See?

06:00It's all about how our brains perceive things, taking the surroundings into account.

06:06Ready for a trip?

06:08Keep your eyes on this helm as we prepare to set sail.

06:12So is this ship's wheel turning right or left?

06:15Well, it depends because you can actually control it.

06:18Tilt your head slowly to the left, and you will see the ship's wheel move in one direction.

06:23Now tilt your head to the right.

06:25Slowly, don't rush.

06:28Can you see what's happening?

06:30It looks like our ship just changed direction.

06:34Something similar happens here.

06:37This time, the image of the circle is totally static.

06:40But you can make it look like it's moving.

06:42Just focus on the black dot in the center and move your head back and forth.

06:47Now you're probably seeing the circle rotate.

06:50This illusion works because our brain processes motion direction by detecting the line ends

06:55and angles, which can create conflicting signals.

06:59Tricking our brain into seeing rotation.

07:04I'm almost sure you think this image is tilted like those columns, especially the ones in

07:08the center, are somehow bending.

07:11But once again, your mind is playing tricks on you.

07:14Look, if we add white lines forming a rectangle, you will see that the vertical and horizontal

07:19lines are completely straight.

07:23Let's wrap up with some fun homework.

07:26Next time you pass an old-school barbershop, stop and take a good look at the classic spinning

07:32pole outside.

07:34Isn't it hypnotizing?

07:36The red and blue stripes seem to be endlessly going up or down.

07:39But here's the truth.

07:41The stripes aren't moving upward or downward at all.

07:44They're just rotating around the pole horizontally.

07:49What happens is that these stripes are diagonal.

07:52So when the pole spins, instead of the stripes looking like they're going in a circle, they

07:57seem to move straight up or down the pole.

08:00That's it for today!

08:03So hey, if you pacified your curiosity, then give the video a like and share it with your

08:08friends.

08:09Or if you want more, just click on these videos and stay on the Bright Side!

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