Optical Illusions

i n g I s
Se e
e i v i n g
D ec
Christopher Landauer
Science of Art
March 9, 2000
What is an Illusion?

il·lu·sion (-lzhn) noun

1. a. An erroneous perception of reality.
b. An erroneous concept or belief.
2. The condition of being deceived by a false perception or belief.
3. Something, such as a fantastic plan or desire, that causes an
erroneous belief or perception.
4. Illusionism in art.

• Latin root of illusion is illudere which means “to mock”

• Optical illusions mock our trust in our senses
• Suggest that the eye is not a passive camera; rather,
perception is an active process that takes place in the
brain and is not directly predictable from simple
knowledge of physical relationships
What’s the big deal?

• Human reliance on
correspondence between
conscious experience and
physical reality

• Continual verification of our

senses

• Cultural Heritage
– “Seeing is Believing”
– “See it with my own two
eyes”
History of Illusions

Prehistory:

• Afterimage caused by
glancing at the sun

• A stick half in and half out

of water
History of Illusions

500 B.C. - Height of the Greek Period

“The eyes and ears are bad witnesses when they are at the service of minds
that do not understand their language”
-Parmenides

Two Viewpoints on Perception:

1. Sensory inputs are inaccurate. Mind corrects these inaccuracies to

provide an accurate representation of the environment.

Illusions: Senses are relied on more than the Mind

2. Senses are inherently accurate and produce a true picture of the

environment. Mind is limited.

Illusions: Mind interferes with the Senses

History of Illusions

c. 450 B.C.
“The mind sees and the mind hears. The rest is blind and deaf.”
-Epicharmus

“Man is nothing but a bundle of sensations”

-Protagoras
c. 300 B.C.
“We must perceive objects through the senses but with the mind”
-Plato

384 - 322 B.C.

“Each sense has one kind of object which it discerns, and never errs
in reporting that what is before it is color or sound; Although, it
may err as to what it is that is colored or where it is, or what it is
that is sounding, or where it is.”
-Aristotle
History of Illusions

A. Ideal Parthenon

B. Architrave Illusion
(Jastrow-Lipps)

C. Illusionary Distortion

D. Alterations made to
offset illusion
History of Illusions

“For the sight follows gracious contours; and unless

we flatter its pleasure by proportionate alterations of
the modules--so that by adjustment there is added the
amount to which suffers illusion--an uncouth and
ungracious aspect will be presented to the spectators.”

-Vitruvius
History of Illusions

Entasis:
Convexing of column to overcome
parallel lines appearing concave

Irradiation Illusion:
Bright objects appear larger
History of Illusions

Conclusion:

“More of an Art than a Science”

Early Preparadaigmatic Science

-Trial and error
-Aesthetic, not scientific
-No factual understanding
-No treatsies
-No schools of thought
History of Illusions

1596 - 1650 Descartes:

There is both a registration stage and an interpretation stage
in the perceptual process. Perceptual error or illusion may intrude at
either of these two steps along the road to consciousness.

1700 - 1800 Given at Birth vs. Learned through Experience

Reid & Kant:

All knowledge of the external world comes directly
through the senses and is interpreted by innate
mechanisms

Berkeley & Hume:

All perceptual qualities are learned through
experience with the environment
History of Illusions

1800 - 1870 Experimental Foundations

Mueller, E.H. Weber, Helmholtz, Baldwin, Hering use Physics,
Physiology, Philosophy to form treatises
Specialist and Non-specialist working in area of visual geometric
illusions carrys on to the present
1922 - Luckiesh: lighting engineer
1964 - Tolansky: physicist
1972 - Robinson: psychologist

1900s Revolution and Rebirth

• Behaviorists vs. Gestalt
• Methodology vs. Theoretical
• Percepual response & Brain wave patterns
Current State of
Illisions

Conclusion:
Paradigmatic Science (Psychology)

1900s

Normal Sciences => Anomoly => Crisis => Revolution

Current status: Normal Science

- mopping up
- puzzle solving
- guidelines for research
 Ambiguous Figures

Face or Vase?
 Ambiguous Figures
RetroActive
Nels Isralson
L'Amour de Pierrot
c.1905

Gossip and Satan

Geo. A. Wotherspoon
 Bust of Voltaire
Ambiguous Figures - Houdon, 1781

Slave Market With the Disappearing Bust of Voltaire

- Salvadore Dali, 1940
Ambiguous Figures

The Great Panoramic

- Salvadore Dali, 1936
Ambiguous Figures

Multiple Figures

2 3

2
 Ambiguous Figures

Mask Concavity
 Ambiguous Figures

Mach’s Figure
Ambiguous Figures

Schroder’s Staircase
Ambiguous Figures

Oscillating Cubes
 Ambiguous Figures

Necker Cube
Ambiguous Figures
Ambiguous Figures

Cube looks like a cube. Cube looks distorted, on

face smaller than the
“Equal sides and right
other.
angles.”
Depth is paradoxical
Eye: Perspetive projection
Reverse: No Change
Reverse: Topless pyramid
change of shape
Ambiguous Figures

Cube does not look like a Necker Cube. No face is

cube. front or back by
perspective
Eye: Near face is same
size as far face Depth is paradoxical
Reverse: Topless pyramid Reverse: No change
further face always looks
larger
 Ambiguous Figures

Possible views:
• Cube with corner missing
• Box in corner of room
• Small cube infront of large

cube

3 in 1 Illusion
Ambiguous Figures
Cube / Room

Possible views:
• 3D Cube
• Corner of Room