I wrote earlier in the week, in my post The Alto—Forty Years On , about the origin of the term WYSIWYG (pronounced whizzy-wig if you didn't already know). Today, it's the day before a break so I traditionally write about something completely off-topic. And today, it's when what you see is not what you get. Optical illusions. I'm sure you've seen this before. Which arrow looks longer to you? This has an official name, and you know it is really official when the name has an umlaut in it. It is the Müller-Lyer Illusion. You probably answered the question I asked wrongly. Having seen this illusion since you were a small child, you know that the arrows are actually the same length. But the strange thing about optical illusions is that even if you know the illusion, you can't make your brain un-see it. So you probably said to yourself reading my question that they are the same length. But I asked which arrow looked longer, and the truth is that the top arrow looks longer. You just logically know it is not, but I didn't ask that. Best Illusion of the Year I doubt that you knew that there is the Best Illusion of the Year competition. This was the runner-up this year, although I think it is better than the winner. The Skye Blue Café Wall Illusion originally noticed on a café wall in Bristol, England by Richard Gregory (who was a famous professor of all things vision). This was the submission of Victoria Skye, hence the 'e' in the name. https://youtu.be/d8Se0WRFV-8 See the full results of this year's competition (and links to get to previous years). Ambiguous Cylinder I have to emphasize that there is no trickery in the video you are seeing here. The mirror is completely normal, so you can see the same 3D construction from two different directions simultaneously, As the creator says: We cannot correct our interpretations although we logically know that they come from the same objects. Even if the object is rotated in front of a viewer, it is difficult to understand the true shape of the object, and thus the illusion does not disappear. https://youtu.be/oWfFco7K9v8 The McGurk Effect You might think that hearing involves just your ears. Yes, if it is hard to hear then seeing someone's lips can help you understand, but that seems to be it. However, the McGurk effect shows just how powerfully sight is connected to hearing. So, what you hear isn't what you get either. www.youtube.com/watch Marilyn Monroe or Albert Einstein Is this Marilyn Monroe? Sounds like a silly question, because it is obviously Albert Einstein. But now walk away from the screen and look at it from ten or fifteen feet away. The image was created by merging two pictures. All the fine-grained detail was removed from the Marilyn Monroe picture, so it is blurry and doesn't register at short range. On the other hand, the Einstein picture is only fine detail, so you don't see it from a distance. If you are short-sighted and wear glasses, you may just need to take them off. And if you see Marilyn up close then you may need glasses, go and get your eyes checked. Monkey Business https://youtu.be/vJG698U2Mvo Happy Thanksgiving I wish you and your families and friends a Happy Thanksgiving. You won't have Breakfast Bytes on Friday morning, but I'm sure you can have a turkey croissant for breakfast as a consolation. I'll be back on Monday. Sign up for Sunday Brunch, the weekly Breakfast Bytes email.![]()
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