Blind Spot Optical Illusions. Online seminar from McCormick Lab at Yale lets you find your own visual blind spots. After that, you can make Monet's sun, and Van Gogh's ear, disappear. [more inside]
posted by cybercoitus interruptus on Jan 11, 2009 - 15 comments

The Mighty Optical Illusions website contains a ton of things to mess with your visual cortex, from 3D chalk drawings to impossible objects; spot-the-object games, tests, and the just plain spooky, among many other categories. Or you can just keep hitting the Random Illusion button until you lose yourself.
posted by not_on_display on Sep 8, 2008 - 8 comments

"Of all the various types of optical objects known to exist, far and away the most magnificent and attractive are the optical fans." These sly spying devices, now rare collector curiosities, were once a more discreet and chic alternative for spying on your neighbors in fashionable gatherings than opera glasses, spyglasses, or jealousy glasses.
posted by madamjujujive on Feb 6, 2008 - 19 comments

Is the dancer spinning clockwise or counterclockwise? An optical illusion. [more inside]
posted by painquale on Oct 8, 2007 - 133 comments

RONJA is an optical networking device that can be built by nearly everyone, using readily available components and using only free software.
posted by goodnewsfortheinsane on Feb 7, 2007 - 23 comments

Your daily dose of perception-bending. Stare at the center of this video (wmv or flash) for a minute or two then look away from the screen at your surroundings. You'll experience an interesting and somewhat disconcerting effect. Not appropriate for anyone prone to headaches or seizures.
posted by brain_drain on Aug 28, 2006 - 51 comments

Mr Angry & Mrs Calm. This illusion will BLOW YOUR MIND.
posted by smackfu on Oct 25, 2005 - 42 comments

Masters of Deception "There are a number of incredible artistic works featured in Masters of Deception, which require movement to appreciate their full impact. Additionally, I had in my possession various interviews with some of the book's featured artists that I wanted to share with my readership. Unfortunately, the publisher was unwilling to produce a CD to accompany the book. I have created this web site, therefore, to augment and enhance the reader's experience by presenting those works and interviews that I could not present in book form." Al Seckel. enjoy.
posted by hortense on Aug 19, 2005 - 3 comments

Rapid Afterimage Optical Illusion
posted by srboisvert on Jun 6, 2005 - 38 comments

Red and green dots have never been so interesting. At least to a geek like me. I love it when my brain plays tricks on me.
posted by jeremy on May 21, 2004 - 33 comments

Remember the weirdness with Bush's hypnotic rainbow tie last week? Now you too can experiment with creating mesmerizing patterns on Project LITE's Moire page.
[via j-walk blog]
posted by moonbird on Apr 19, 2004 - 5 comments

sandlot science ... optical illusions and visual oddities... hundreds of exhibits and interactive demonstrations.
posted by crunchland on Nov 3, 2003 - 4 comments

Eyes Hurt? Wavy,Strained.Stressed get some Sun!
posted by Niahmas on Sep 19, 2003 - 5 comments

A professor of vision science at MIT understands that life isn't just black and white, even though we often see it that way. This amazing illusion proves it, and these slick, fast-loading, Flash demonstrations of lightness perception show how it's done. (My favorite is the "Koffka Ring".) White paper here, for deeper background.
posted by taz on Sep 27, 2002 - 29 comments