Motion-induced blindness (MIB) is an optical illusion that occurs when a stationary pattern or image is presented in the presence of a moving pattern or image. The stationary pattern or image appears to disappear or fade, even though it is still present, this phenomenon is called motion-induced blindness.
After focusing on the green dot for several seconds the yellow dots disappear
Table of Contents
- How does Motion Induced Blindness work?
- Versions of Motion Induced Blindness
- Illusions like Motion Induced Blindness
- Discovery of Motion Induced Blindness
- References and Resources
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How does Motion Induced Blindness work?
Motion-induced blindness (MIB) is an optical illusion that occurs when a stationary pattern or image is presented in the presence of a moving pattern or image. The stationary pattern or image appears to disappear or fade, even though it is still present, this phenomenon is called motion-induced blindness.
This illusion occurs because the brain is more sensitive to movement and is more likely to pay attention to the moving pattern or image, rather than the stationary pattern or image. The brain can become so focused on the moving pattern or image that it “filters out” or “ignores” the stationary pattern or image. This can cause the stationary pattern or image to disappear or fade from perception, even though it is still present.
MIB has been studied extensively, and several theories have been proposed to explain the underlying neural mechanisms, such as the attentional blink theory, the competition between motion signals and static signals theory, or the adaptation theory.
The phenomenon of MIB has been found to have some applications in fields such as cognitive psychology, visual perception and neuropsychology, as well as in some practical fields such as aviation, transportation, and computer science.
Versions of the Motion Induced Blindness
The following are some other examples of the Motion Induced Blindness
Illusions like Motion Induced Blindness
The following are some illusions that are related to Motion Induced Blindness
Troxler’s fading, also known as Troxler’s effect, is a phenomenon in which a stationary visual stimulus eventually disappears from perception, even though it is still present in the visual field.
This occurs because the human visual system adapts to constant stimuli and eventually stops responding to them.
After staring at the cross for several seconds, the dots fade away
After staring at the cross for several seconds, colors fade away
After staring at the dot for several seconds, the colored ring fades away
The Phi phenomenon is the illusion of movement created by the rapid succession of static images or light sources.
It is the perceptual phenomenon that explains how the human brain perceives motion when presented with a sequence of still images or light sources that are displayed in rapid succession.
The Rotating Snakes is a peripheral drift illusion that consists of a grid of shapes, with some of them appearing to be rotating or undulating. The illusion is created by the interaction of the shapes with the neural processing of the visual system.
The Moiré pattern illusion: This illusion is created by superimposing two similar patterns on top of each other, such as a grid of lines or circles. The resulting pattern appears to be moving or changing.
The Scintillating Grid Illusion, in which a grid of black and white squares appears to pulsate or “breathe” when viewed from the periphery of the image.
The Hermann Grid Illusion, in which the intersections of a white grid on a black background appear to be gray, even though they are actually the same color as the background.
The Zöllner Illusion, in which parallel lines appear to be tilted or bent when intersected by diagonal lines.
The Café Wall Illusion is a visual illusion that is created by a grid of alternating light and dark horizontal and vertical lines. The lines appear to be bent or tilted, even though they are actually straight.
Discovery of Motion Induced Blindness
Motion-induced blindness was originally discovered in 1965 by Grindley and Townsend
It was later popularized following work by by Ramachandran and Gregory in 1991.
References and Resources
Check out our complete list of illusions.
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