This Slithering Snakes Illusion by Professor Akiyoshi Kitaoka is a type of optical illusion known as a “peripheral drift illusion,” which creates the impression of motion and slithering snakes in a static image.
The Slithering Snakes illusion is a fascinating example of how our brains can be tricked into perceiving motion and movement in static images. It’s a testament to the power of our visual system and the way that our brains interpret the world around us.
If you are interested in learning more about the Slithering Snakes Illusion, scroll down to learn more about it.
Table of Contents
- What is the Slithering Snakes Illusion?
- How does the Slithering Snakes Illusion work?
- Some Similar Illusions
- Discovery of the Slithering Snakes Illusion
- References and Resources
What is the Slithering Snakes Illusion?
The Slithering Snakes illusion was created by Akiyoshi Kitaoka. This illusion is an example of a type of optical illusion known as a “peripheral drift illusion,” which creates the impression of motion and slithering snakes in a static image.
The Slithering Snakes illusion is a fascinating example of how our brains can be tricked into perceiving motion and movement in static images. It’s a testament to the power of our visual system and the way that our brains interpret the world around us.
How does the Slithering Snakes Illusion work?
Peripheral drift illusions, like the Slithering Snakes Illusion, are a type of optical illusion that creates the impression of motion and movement in static images. They work by taking advantage of the way that our visual system processes information about edges, contrast, and orientation.
In a peripheral drift illusion, a pattern of lines or shapes is arranged in a way that creates an impression of rotation or movement, even though the image itself is static. The key to this illusion is that the edges of the pattern are tilted at different angles, which creates an impression of motion in our peripheral vision.
As we move our eyes across the image, the edges of the pattern appear to move and shift, creating the impression of motion and rotation. This effect is strongest in our peripheral vision, which is more sensitive to motion and less sensitive to fine details than our central vision.
Peripheral drift illusions work because our visual system is constantly processing information about edges, contrast, and orientation in the environment around us. By manipulating these visual cues in a precise way, peripheral drift illusions can create the impression of motion and movement in static images, leading to a fascinating and sometimes perplexing visual experience.
The Slithering Snakes illusion works by taking advantage of the way that our visual system processes information about edges and contrast. When we look at an image like this, our eyes and brain work together to detect the edges and boundaries between different areas of contrast.
In this particular illusion, the areas of the image are arranged in a way that creates a sense of movement and motion. The alternating colors areas are tilted at slight angles, which creates an optical illusion of motion.
As we look at the image, our eyes and brain try to track the movement of the lines, which creates a sensation of motion even though the image is actually static. This illusion is particularly effective because the spiral motion and slithering snakes are suggested by the arrangement of the lines themselves, rather than any external factors such as shadows or lighting.
In short, the Slithering Snakes illusion works by manipulating our perception of edges, contrast, and motion, creating a vivid and compelling visual illusion that tricks our brains into perceiving something that isn’t actually there.
Some Similar Illusions
There are many other optical illusions that rely on similar principles to the Slithering Snakes illusion. Here are a few examples:
- The Pinwheel Tiling illusion: This illusion features a series of overlapping circles with curved lines, which create the impression of rotating pinwheels.
- The Cafe Wall illusion: This illusion features a series of black and white horizontal lines that appear to be tilted due to the way that the lines and spaces between them are arranged.
- The Rotating Snakes illusion: This illusion features a series of concentric circles with curved lines that create the impression of rotating snakes.
- The Hermann Grid illusion: This illusion features a grid of black squares with white spaces in between, where gray dots appear at the intersections of the white spaces. These dots seem to disappear when the eye moves to look directly at them.
- The Motion Aftereffect illusion: This illusion occurs when the eye becomes adapted to looking at a moving stimulus, and then looks at a stationary scene which appears to be moving in the opposite direction.
- Rotating Ferris Wheel Illusion: This Rotating Ferris Wheel Illusion is a peripheral drift illusion. The Ferris wheel appears to rotate, but the image is completely static
All of these illusions rely on manipulating our perception of edges, contrast, and motion to create a visual experience that differs from the reality of the image itself.
Discovery of the Slithering Snakes Illusion
The Slithering Snakes Illusion was created Akiyoshi Kitaoka, a Japanese psychologist and visual perception researcher who is well known for his work on optical illusions. He is a professor of psychology at Ritsumeikan University in Kyoto, Japan, where he conducts research on visual perception, psychophysics, and color vision.
Kitaoka is particularly known for his creation of a variety of striking and intriguing optical illusions, including the Slithering Snakes illusion and many other peripheral drift illusions. His illusions have been widely shared and discussed online, and have gained a large following among people interested in visual perception and cognitive science.
In addition to his work on optical illusions, Kitaoka has also conducted research on topics such as visual attention, color vision, and spatial perception. He has published numerous papers in scientific journals and has received several awards for his contributions to the field of visual perception research.
References and Resources
In addition to the Slithering Snakes Illusion, check out our complete list of illusions and this cool Expanding Coil Illusion