No Curved Lines Illusion

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In the No Curved Lines Illusion, you’ll see both straight and curved lines.

But as soon as you try to focus on a curved line, it will turn into a straight line and curved lines will pop up elsewhere.

In reality, all of the lines are perfectly straight. If you are interested in learning a bit more about how this works, scroll down to learn more about it.

No Curved Lines Illusion


Table of Contents

What is the No Curved Lines Illusion?

The No Curved Lines Illusion has a few illusory effects at play, but perhaps the most important is the Hering Illusion. This illusion involves a series of straight lines that are superimposed on a pattern of radiating lines, which creates the impression that the straight lines are curved or bowed outwards.

The Hering illusion is an example of a geometric optical illusion, which occurs when visual cues such as angles, length, and position are misinterpreted by the brain, leading to a perception that differs from reality. In this case, the radiating lines in the background of the illusion create a visual distortion that makes the straight lines appear to be curved or bowed. Here is a classic view of the Hering Illusion

Hering Illusion

The Hering illusion is named after the German physiologist Ewald Hering, who first described the effect in the late 19th century. It is a well-known example of a visual illusion and has been used in many studies of visual perception and cognition.

How does the No Curved Lines Illusion?

As mentioned, the No Curved Lines Illusion is grounded in the Herring illusion. The Hering illusion works by exploiting the way our brains perceive depth and perspective in images. Specifically, the illusion takes advantage of how our brains interpret the angle of straight lines in relation to other lines in the image.

The Hering illusion consists of a series of straight, parallel lines that are superimposed over a background of converging lines that are angled to create a radial pattern. The convergence of the radial lines creates the impression of depth, and this in turn causes the straight lines to appear to be curved or bowed outwards.

To understand why this happens, it’s important to note that our brains use various visual cues to interpret the position and angle of lines in an image. One of these cues is the way that lines are positioned in relation to each other. When lines are parallel and run in the same direction, our brains interpret them as being straight and not curved. However, when lines are placed at an angle or converge towards a point, our brains interpret them as being curved or bowed.

In the case of the Hering illusion, the background of converging lines creates the illusion of depth and causes our brains to interpret the straight lines as being curved or bowed outwards, even though they are actually straight. This is because our brains interpret the angle of the straight lines in relation to the converging lines, rather than in isolation. The result is a compelling and persistent illusion of curvature, even though there are no actual curves in the image.

Some Similar Illusions – No Curved Lines Illusion

There are several other visual illusions that are similar to the No Curved Lines Illusion in that they also exploit the way our brains interpret depth and perspective to create distorted or misleading images. Here are a few examples:

  1. The Poggendorff illusion: This illusion involves a diagonal line that is interrupted by a rectangle, and a second line that intersects with the rectangle at an angle. Even though the two lines are actually connected, they appear to be misaligned due to the presence of the rectangle.
  2. The Zöllner illusion: This illusion involves a series of parallel lines that are superimposed over a background of diagonal lines. The parallel lines appear to be skewed or distorted due to the presence of the diagonal lines in the background.
  3. The Ponzo illusion: This illusion involves two lines that are the same length, but are placed over a background of converging lines. The line that appears to be farther away from the viewer appears longer than the line that appears to be closer.
  4. The Müller-Lyer illusion: This classic illusion involves two lines of equal length, but with different arrow-like markings at the ends. One line appears shorter than the other, even though they are actually the same length.

All of these illusions, like the No Curved Lines Illusion, exploit the way our brains interpret visual cues such as perspective, angles, and depth to create a misleading or distorted image. They are all examples of how our perception can be influenced by subtle changes in visual stimuli.

Discovery of the Hering Illusion

The Hering illusion is named after the German physiologist Ewald Hering, who first described the effect in 1861. Hering was a prominent figure in the field of visual perception and was known for his research on the physiology of the eye and the brain. He was particularly interested in the way that visual information is processed by the brain and how this leads to the perception of colors, shapes, and patterns.

In his original paper describing the Hering illusion, Hering noted that the effect could be observed in a variety of different contexts, including patterns of radiating lines and curved surfaces. He hypothesized that the illusion was related to the way that the brain processes visual information and interpreted the effect as evidence for the existence of “perceptual space” – a mental representation of the visual environment that is distinct from physical space. Hering’s work on visual perception was highly influential and helped to lay the foundation for modern research on the brain and cognition.


References and Resources – No Curved Lines Illusion

Check out our complete list of illusions.