Illusion news 9

Illusion news 9

since February 19, 2008

<Pictures: guardian statues in the Ninna-ji temple>

Visiome Platform is a digital research resource archive for vision science. The available resources include mathematical models, experimental stimuli, experimental data, and analytical tools. See my catalogue page. <April 26, 2008>

For example, if you need a high-resolution image of, click . Then, a 4554 x 8000 pixel bitmap can be downloaded.

I have received a letter from one of my greatest fans in Belgium! Click here (PDF) (removed on request on January 19, 2023).
<April 18, 2008>

Thanks to Vianney & Bruno

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Related works

"Men with sunglasses"

Vertical or horizontal edges appear to be distorted and each quarter region appears to move.

Elemental images
(copyright free; citation is necessary)

The horizontal edge in the middle of each image appears to tilt counterclockwise. This illusion was proposed by Kitaoka, Pinna and Brelstaff (2001, 2004).

References

Kitaoka, A., Pinna, B., and Brelstaff, G. (2001). New variations of spiral illusions. Perception, 30, 637-646.

Kitaoka, A., Pinna, B., and Brelstaff, G. (2004). Contrast polarities determine the direction of Cafe Wall tilts. Perception, 33, 11-20.

Kitaoka, A. (2007) Tilt illusions after Oyama (1960): A review. Japanese Psychological Research, 49, 7-19. PDF

The elemental image of primrose's version
(copyright free; citation is necessary)

"Noshi"*

*kind of decorations for cerebration

Inner gold squares appear to tilt counterclockwise.

"Turtles"

Vertical or horizontal edges appear to tilt.

"Cultured turtles"

Vertical or horizontal edges appear to be distorted.

"Primrose's field"

This checkered background consists of squares but appears to wave. In addition, this figure shows a great amount of anomalous motion illusion.

The 3rd Imai Award for Research on Optical Illusions was given to Professor Shin Nozawa for his study on the figural aftereffect and Professor Koraro Suzuki for his contribution to the moon illusion. Related webpage (in Japanese) <April 2, 2008>

The relationship between the "Rotating snakes" illusion and age has been examined several times. Here are additional data from participants of my talk given to the students of the Ritsumeikan Keisho Junior High School who visited the Ritsumeikan University. The items for answer were "Rotating snakes appear to move well" (score 3), "Rotating snakes appear to move" (score 2), "Rotating snakes appear to move slightly" (score 1), and "Rotating snakes do not appear to move at all" (score 0). As a result, there was no significant correlation between illusion magnitude and age within these samples. <March 6, 2008>

The six adults were teachers.

Data from students of the Ritsumeikan Keisho Junior High School (March 5, 2008). For scores, see text.

The graph shown below displays the combined data that have been collected so far. A significant negative correlation (r = -.40) was found between the Rotating Snakes illusion and age! This does not necessarily mean that the older the observer is, the less visible the illusion. This indicates that some unknown characteristics of this illusion are related to age while this illusion is not related to aging.

For those who do not see the "Rotating snakes" illusion, please do not worry because "no illusion" does not mean anything. It is only one of the individual differences. Please enjoy other illusions!

***DUE TO POPULAR DEMAND*** --
The deadline for the 4th Annual Best Visual Illusion of the Year Contest has been extended. FINAL (no exceptions) submission date is now ***March 1st***!

http://illusioncontest.neuralcorrelate.com

Many of the most outstanding illusion creators in the world have asked us toextend the deadline so as to perfect their contributions for the Contest! The voters at the 4th Annual Best Illusion of the Year Contest, in Naples,Florida, will certainly see the Best and Most Exciting New Illusions of the Year. This award is chosen by the community, and not by a committee, so please come and make your vote!

The 2008 contest will be hosted by Stuart Anstis and held in Naples, Florida (Naples Philharmonic Center for the Arts, http://www.thephil.org) on Sunday, May 11th, 2008, during the week of the Vision Sciences Society conference (VSS). The Naples Philharmonic Center is an 8-minute walk from the main VSS headquarters hotel in Naples, and is thus central to the VSS conference.

The 2007 annual contest, held in Sarasota, Florida, drew numerous accolades from attendees and international media coverage, as well as over *** ONE MILLION*** website hits from viewers all over the world. The First, Second and Third Prize winners were Frederick Kingdom, Ali Yoonessi and Elena Gheorghiu (McGill University, Canada), Pietro Guardini and Luciano Gamberini (University of Padova, Italy), and Arthur Shapiro and Emily Knight (Bucknell University, USA). To see the illusions, photo galleries and other highlights from the 2007 contest, go to http://illusioncontest.neuralcorrelate.com
(which is decorated with the enhanced checkered illusion ).

Visual Illusion Contestants are invited to submit novel visual or multimodal illusions (unpublished, or published no earlier than 2007) in standard image, movie or html formats. An international panel of impartial judges will rate the submissions and narrow them to the TOP TEN. Then, at the Contest Gala in Naples, the TOP TEN illusionists will present their contributions and the attendees of the event (that means you!) will vote to pick the TOP THREE WINNERS!

The renowned sculptor and artist, Guido Moretti, has created three amazing works of art to serve as trophies for the TOP THREE winners!

See the trophies at: http://illusioncontest.neuralcorrelate.com/index.php?module=pagemaster&PAGE_user_op=view_page&PAGE_id=145&MMN_position=41:41

Illusions submitted to previous editions of the contest can be re-submitted to the 2008 contest, as long as they meet the above requirements and were not among the top three winners in previous years.

Submissions will be held in strict confidence by the panel of judges and the authors/creators will retain full copyright. No illusions will be posted on the illusion contest's website without the creators' explicit permission. As with submitting your work to any scientific conference, participating in the Best Illusion of the Year Contest does not preclude you from also submitting your work for publication elsewhere.

Submissions can be made to Dr. Susana Martinez-Conde (Illusion Contest Coordinator, Neural Correlate Society) via email (smart@ neuralcorrelate.com) (remove the space after @) until ***March 01, 2008***. Illusion submissions should come with a (no more than) one-page description of the illusion and its theoretical underpinnings (if known). Illusions will be rated according to:

. Significance to our understanding of the visual system . Simplicity of the
description . Sheer beauty . Counterintuitive quality . Spectacularity

Visit the illusion contest website for further information and to see last year's illusions: http://illusioncontest.neuralcorrelate.com

Submit your ideas now and take home this prestigious award!

On behalf of the Neural Correlate Society: Susana Martinez-Conde (Illusion Contest Coordinator)

Neural Correlate Society Executive Committee: Jose-Manuel Alonso, Stephen Macknik, Luis Martinez, Xoana Troncoso, Peter Tse

The relationship between the "Rotating snakes" illusion and age has been examined several times. Here are additional data from participants of my talk in the Graduate School of Medicine, the University of Tokyo. The items for answer were "Rotating snakes appear to move well" (score 3), "Rotating snakes appear to move" (score 2), "Rotating snakes appear to move slightly" (score 1), and "Rotating snakes do not appear to move at all" (score 0). As a result, there was no significant correlation between illusion magnitude and age within these samples. <February 19, 2008>

Data from participants of the Shizuoka Science Museum "Ru-ku-ru" (February 10, 2008). For scores, see text.

The graph shown below displays the combined data that have been collected so far. A significant negative correlation (r = -.42) was found between the Rotating Snakes illusion and age! This does not necessarily mean that the older the observer is, the less visible the illusion. This indicates that some unknown characteristics of this illusion are related to age while this illusion is not related to aging.

For those who do not see the "Rotating snakes" illusion, please do not worry because "no illusion" does not mean anything. It is only one of the individual differences. Please enjoy other illusions!

"Neural circuits"

The two concentric arrays of stars appear to rotate in the different directions when we approach or move away from the figure while fixating at the center.

Illusion news 8 (November 2007 - February 2008)

Illusion news 7 (September 2007 - October 2007)

Illusion news 6 (June 2007 - September 2007)

Illusion news 5 (January 2007 - May 2007)

Illusion news 4 (January 2006 - December 2006)

Illusion news 3 (January 2006 - May 2006)

Illusion news 2 (April 2005 - December 2005)

Illusion news 1 (2002 - March 2005)

Akiyoshi's illusion pages