Well, can you? ~ Page 3

Is the inner arch parallel or perpendicular to the outer?

Believe it or not, the squares marked A and B are the same colour

An explanation of how this illusion works

Many thanks to Professor Adelson of the Perpceptual Science Group and the Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences of MIT for allowing me to use his image

Professor Adelson's paper Lightness Perception and Lightness Illusions and demonstrations

This fantastic portico doesn't really exist!
It was painted by Richard Haas on the facade of the Brotherhood building in Cincinnati, Ohio in 1983
It's an example of trompe l'oeil ("to deceive the eye") or faux finishes

Keep Still!
These circles just don't want to keep still

Clever Camouflage
This is really one battleship painted to look like three or four. I've no idea what ship this is, but it was taken from an illustration in the Discovery Box Optical Illusions package, published by Scholastic in 1996, ISBN 0-590-89667-9. No credits were given for this photograph.

In May 2005, I received an email from Francois Levrat in Paris who says that it's the French ship "Richelieu" during the second world war. Francois was also kind enough to provide some websites about the "Richelieu" - Naval Encyclopedia of World War 2 and Max Derouen's philatelic site

This page created 29th January 2002, last modified 19th October 2005