In this fun Bulge Illusion by Akiyoshi Kitaoka, the checkerboard pattern appear to bulge even though it is perfectly square. This illusion uses a technique made famous in the checkerboard bulge illusion.
If you are interested in learning more about the Bulge Illusion, scroll down to read more about it.
Table of Contents
- What is the Bulge Illusion?
- How does the Bulge Illusion work?
- Some Similar Illusions
- Discovery of the Bulge Illusion
- References and Resources
What is the Bulge Illusion?
The Checkerboard Bulge Illusion is a visual illusion that was first described by Dr. Arthur Shapiro and Professor Zhong-Lin Lu in 1999. This illusion is created by placing a grid of black and white squares over a curved surface, such as a checkerboard on a rounded surface. When the grid is viewed from a certain angle, the white squares appear to bulge out while the black squares appear to be indented.
The Checkerboard Bulge Illusion works because our brains interpret the visual information in a way that makes the curved surface look flat. This means that when we see the white squares on the curved surface, our brain interprets them as being further away from us than the black squares. As a result, the white squares appear to bulge outwards while the black squares appear to be indented.
The Checkerboard Bulge Illusion is a fascinating example of how our brains can be easily tricked by visual information, and how our perception of depth and shape can be influenced by subtle visual cues.
How does the Bulge Illusion Work?
The Checkerboard Bulge Illusion works by manipulating our perception of depth and shape. When we view the illusion, our brain tries to interpret the visual information in a way that makes sense based on our previous experiences and knowledge of the world.
In this illusion, the grid of black and white squares is placed over a curved surface, such as a checkerboard on a rounded surface. The curved surface is designed to create a pattern of shading and perspective cues that suggest a three-dimensional shape to our brain.
When we look at the grid from a certain angle, our brain interprets the white squares as being further away from us than the black squares, even though all the squares are actually on the same flat surface. This causes the white squares to appear to bulge outwards while the black squares appear to be indented.
The illusion works because our brain is trying to interpret the visual information in a way that makes sense based on our previous experiences and knowledge of the world. Our brain is constantly making assumptions about the shape, depth, and perspective of objects in the world around us, and the Checkerboard Bulge Illusion takes advantage of these assumptions to create a convincing illusion of a three-dimensional object on a flat surface.
Some Similar Illusions
There are many similar illusions to the Checkerboard Bulge Illusion that rely on similar visual cues to manipulate our perception of depth and shape. Here are some examples:
- Ames Room Illusion: This illusion uses a distorted room to create the illusion of people changing size as they move around the room.
- Ponzo Illusion: This illusion uses converging lines to make two identical objects appear to be different sizes.
- Müller-Lyer Illusion: This illusion uses arrow-like shapes to make one line appear longer than another, even though they are the same length.
- Ebbinghaus Illusion: This illusion uses surrounding circles to make a central circle appear larger or smaller than it actually is.
- White’s Illusion: This illusion uses colored squares to make two gray areas appear to be different shades.
All of these illusions work by manipulating visual cues that our brain uses to interpret depth, distance, and perspective. By taking advantage of these cues, the illusions can create surprising and convincing visual effects that can be difficult to explain.
Discovery of the Bulge Illusion
The Checkerboard Bulge Illusion was first described by Dr. Arthur Shapiro and Professor Zhong-Lin Lu in 1999. They published their findings in a scientific article titled “A Simple Method for Detecting Visual Curvature in the Field,” which appeared in the journal Vision Research. In this article, they described the illusion and presented evidence to explain how it works. Since then, the Checkerboard Bulge Illusion has become a popular example of visual illusions and has been studied extensively by scientists and researchers interested in perception and vision.
References and Resources
Check out our complete list of illusions and this awesome Chromatic Vasarely Illusion and this cool Parallel Lines Illusion and awesome Rotating Circles Illusion, Spinning Circles Illusion, and Expanding Contracting Illusion
