Gravity is Optional

May 15, 2010 8:14 PM

The results are in, and mathematician Kokichi Sugihara won the 2010 Best Illusion of the Year award with a video of balls rolling uphill. The competition, hosted by the Neural Correlate Society, is the "Oscars of perception," says society president Susana Martinez-Conde. The trophies are themselves visual illusions — wooden sculptures that look vastly different depending on the observer's point of view. The ten finalists are all interesting. Previously.
posted by jjray (14 comments total)

That's dead cool. I love stuff like this.
posted by rtha at 8:52 PM on May 15, 2010

Posts like this are among my favorite things about MetaFilter. Thanks so much.
posted by straight at 8:57 PM on May 15, 2010

Here are the trophies.
posted by jjray at 9:02 PM on May 15, 2010 [2 favorites]

the main site totally borked my system and crashed firefox... its just an illusion
posted by infini at 9:17 PM on May 15, 2010

Fucking magnets, how does this work? And I don't wanna talk to a member of the Neural Correlate Society. Y'all motherfuckers lying, and getting me pissed.

Seriously. Ouch.
posted by kipmanley at 9:28 PM on May 15, 2010 [1 favorite]

When i saw the double helix in the moving dots, i was all like woah...
posted by empath at 9:40 PM on May 15, 2010

That matte/glossy "illusion" was pretty bland. The others were pretty interesting, though.
posted by delmoi at 10:02 PM on May 15, 2010

Fucking illusions, how do they work?
posted by Evilspork at 10:40 PM on May 15, 2010

Metafilter: The Oscars of perception.
posted by mreleganza at 11:46 PM on May 15, 2010 [1 favorite]

I do so like the doors... its the windows that are the problem
posted by infini at 2:11 AM on May 16, 2010

I give the 'monkey business illusion' an eh out of meh. "If there's lots of shit going on you might not notice it all!" WOW! Way to blow away the walls of perception, dude.
posted by obiwanwasabi at 2:30 AM on May 16, 2010

The rolling up hill would be a gravity hill in real life.
posted by sety at 5:34 AM on May 16, 2010 [1 favorite]

Amazing Fire Illusion
posted by homunculus at 12:59 PM on May 16, 2010

Oh yeah, just looks like an Ames Room to me.

But hey, an Ames Room without walls, that's pretty cool.
posted by ovvl at 2:50 PM on May 17, 2010