Comments on: Rapid Afterimage Optical Illusion

Rapid Afterimage Optical Illusion

srboisvert — Mon, 06 Jun 2005 13:50:28 -0800

By: MrMoonPie

MrMoonPie — Mon, 06 Jun 2005 14:08:16 -0800

Wow. The effect is so strong that I initially suspected a trick, you know, like all the magenta dots actually did disappear.

By: dopamine

dopamine — Mon, 06 Jun 2005 14:35:16 -0800

are we all sure that's not a memory-stealer? did that thing just reach into my subconscious mind and steal my thoughts??!

By: Simon!

Simon! — Mon, 06 Jun 2005 14:35:40 -0800

Yeah, these kinds of optical illusions are common on the net, but the effect from this one is very strong, and quite interesting.

By: soyjoy

soyjoy — Mon, 06 Jun 2005 14:38:52 -0800

MY EYES! MY EYES! Sorry, just wanted to use that on a thread that didn't reference goatse. Cool trick.

By: mystyk

mystyk — Mon, 06 Jun 2005 14:42:36 -0800

I enjoyed the effort of trying to get the magenta dots to disappear. At first I started to suspect a trick too. Very fun.

By: kenko

kenko — Mon, 06 Jun 2005 14:45:15 -0800

What was really cool is how the magenta dots disappeared one after the other as the green spot moved around.

By: languagehat

languagehat — Mon, 06 Jun 2005 14:47:14 -0800

Truly amazing. Eyes and brains are weird things.

By: Specklet

Specklet — Mon, 06 Jun 2005 14:49:30 -0800

I was surprised at how quickly the green appeared. Neat-o.

By: brain_drain

brain_drain — Mon, 06 Jun 2005 14:54:34 -0800

(head explodes)

By: knave

knave — Mon, 06 Jun 2005 14:57:47 -0800

That is awesome. I swear this guy has been posted before, but this appears to be a new illusion on the site. (I went through all of them last time, it was great.)

By: UseyurBrain

UseyurBrain — Mon, 06 Jun 2005 15:34:08 -0800

Didn't the Supreme Court just outlaw this kind of stuff?

By: PurplePorpoise

PurplePorpoise — Mon, 06 Jun 2005 15:35:59 -0800

Wierd, I'm *still* seeing wierd afterimages as I type this in the blue...

By: delmoi

delmoi — Mon, 06 Jun 2005 16:14:11 -0800

Actualy, I've noticed that you can make pretty much any low-contrast object dissapear if you just stare long enough. I remember doing this with ceiling fan blades even. Yeah. I was really bored The purple dots never totaly dissapeared for me, which was a little dissapointing. I also found that I could "bring them back" a little just by concentrating on doing so. Finaly, you don't need to focus on the black plus in the middle, any point will do. I first noticed the effect while reading the explanation :P

By: interrobang

interrobang — Mon, 06 Jun 2005 16:17:41 -0800

Great find. I've been on the site for a half an hour now, going through all of them. Thanks.

By: hybernaut

hybernaut — Mon, 06 Jun 2005 17:17:12 -0800

Hi, I've been reading MeFi via RSS for six months now, and this is my first comment. I've got to ask: is it considered cool to take a post off somewhere else and just paste it here without attribution? I mean, we all find interesting things somewhere, but isn't it considered good form to acknowledge the source? This post cost me $5.

By: Balisong

Balisong — Mon, 06 Jun 2005 17:43:31 -0800

You got suckered.

By: renesisx

renesisx — Mon, 06 Jun 2005 17:48:17 -0800

This illusion makes me question my own existence.

By: Doohickie

Doohickie — Mon, 06 Jun 2005 18:10:39 -0800

Metafilter: this post cost me $5

By: interrobang

interrobang — Mon, 06 Jun 2005 18:12:34 -0800

Welcome to metafilter, hybernaut.

By: LittleMissCranky

LittleMissCranky — Mon, 06 Jun 2005 18:39:35 -0800

Aren't all links from somewhere else? I mean, what are the odds that you will be the first person to link to anything?

By: Doohickie

Doohickie — Mon, 06 Jun 2005 18:45:34 -0800

All links are from somewhere else. I saw this yesterday on #mefi and had no idea where it came from. It does rock, though.

By: birdsquared

birdsquared — Mon, 06 Jun 2005 19:17:05 -0800

srboisvert, thanks for the link. I'll add it to my collection, and try it out on some of my co-workers who had trouble seeing the various illusions here. hybernaut: a) Are you sure that's where the link was discovered? b) Links can't per se be plagiarized, so there's no requirement the source be posted, but it often is a good idea to show where a link came from, since others might then become readers of the link source site. c)A steal at twice the price.

By: gorgor_balabala

gorgor_balabala — Mon, 06 Jun 2005 19:53:55 -0800

birdsquad, they had TROUBLE seeing those?? Gaah! Those things are like brainslippage torture devices!

By: gorgor_balabala

gorgor_balabala — Mon, 06 Jun 2005 19:58:27 -0800

oh, sorry i meant birdsqared.

By: hybernaut

hybernaut — Mon, 06 Jun 2005 20:00:44 -0800

bird^2: of course, passing links around without attribution is perfectly normal. Hardcore linkmasters like Andy painstakingly link back to their sources, and I feel they deserve the same respect. Thanks for the level-headed response. I have just spent a good half hour reading what has come before and will drop this before embarrassing myself further.

By: puke & cry

puke & cry — Mon, 06 Jun 2005 21:05:23 -0800

bullshit, i've seen this one 3 different sites at virtually the same time, not including here. also, how do you NOT see snakes #7?

By: justgary

justgary — Mon, 06 Jun 2005 21:11:46 -0800

I'm amazed at how fast it all turns into just one green dot. A matter of seconds. I've got to ask: is it considered cool to take a post off somewhere else and just paste it here without attribution? I mean, we all find interesting things somewhere, but isn't it considered good form to acknowledge the source? This is a better question for metatalk, and in fact has been covered there before, but attribution has turned into a polite gesture, but certainly not required. How do you know the link was from waxy? I found it elsewhere. And while waxy attributes all his links, kottke.org makes a living off of his site and rarely gives credit to anyone. So if you can make money and not credit links, certainly you can post to metafilter without worrying about attribution. This post cost me $5. You just wasted 5 bucks.

By: NickDouglas

NickDouglas — Mon, 06 Jun 2005 21:19:11 -0800

did that thing just reach into my subconscious mind and steal my thoughts? No, stupid, nothing will happen to your subDADDY NEVER LOVED ME!

By: BoringPostcards

BoringPostcards — Mon, 06 Jun 2005 21:24:12 -0800

How long was I staring at that thing? Was I walking like a chicken a minute ago? Heh heh... that's excellent.

By: spilon

spilon — Mon, 06 Jun 2005 21:26:27 -0800

It's not a schooner... it's a sailboat.

By: noizyboy

noizyboy — Mon, 06 Jun 2005 21:53:42 -0800

I found it on j-walk first. Just for the record.

By: VulcanMike

VulcanMike — Mon, 06 Jun 2005 22:42:49 -0800

Not recommended on little sleep. My stomach is about to throw me up. hybernaut: I challenge you to a duel in the Upcoming.org forums. Okay, not really. Welcome to Metafilter.

By: popkinson

popkinson — Tue, 07 Jun 2005 01:54:20 -0800

The afterimage effect can also be seen in a secondary form as part of the same illusion. Once you've managed to make the magenta dots 'disappear', or at least fade out a bit, move your head towards or away from the image. You'll probably see green trails radiating from the pink dots. The effect is quite pretty. Hints for those who've had trouble 'seeing' these effects: It's easier if your eyes are about six inches from the screen. The dots will only 'disappear' if your gaze doesn't shift at all; to limit eye movement, try focussing on just the tip of one arm of the 'plus'. Please don't bruise your forehead...

By: MiltonRandKalman

MiltonRandKalman — Tue, 07 Jun 2005 17:05:10 -0800

This post cost me $5. posted by hybernaut If you keep posting, over time the monetary value of your insights with be diluted to 2¢.

By: 0bvious

0bvious — Tue, 07 Jun 2005 19:41:21 -0800

For some further info into the perceptual questions this rasies check out my post here. There are also a couple more illusions there which will make you think twice before thinking that seeing is believing...

By: Smedleyman

Smedleyman — Tue, 07 Jun 2005 23:40:01 -0800

*Sol Rosenberg voice* My eyes is goin crazy over here

By: orthogonality

orthogonality — Wed, 08 Jun 2005 00:00:22 -0800

What color(s) do you see in this demonstration? My answer is rot-13'd so as to not influence yours: V fnj cnqqvat-gb-bofpher-ahzore-bs-yrggerf-va-jbeq-terra, ohg gur nhgube ercbegf frrvat erq-oebja-cnqqvat-gb-bofpher-jbeq.

By: VulcanMike

VulcanMike — Wed, 08 Jun 2005 19:52:39 -0800

V fnj n terravfu pbybe gbb. NAQ CNAPNXRF!!!