Illusion makes still images appear to be moving

Still images appear to be moving due to the contrast of colors and the position of the figures.

When we look at the photo, we will see that the patterns seem to be rotating. Photo: Wikimedia.

When we look at the photo above, we will have the feeling that the patterns are rotating, according to Mother Nature Network. This is an optical illusion, making a still image appear to be moving. The effect is caused by the contrast of colors and the position of the drawings.

Scientists are still trying to figure out how the eye and brain interact to create the illusion of motion. They theorize that the color white turns the light-sensing cells in the retina of the eye “on,” while the color black turns them “off.” When white and black are close together in a photo, they appear to flicker, tricking the brain into thinking the image is moving.

The drawings in the photo appear to be moving. Photo: Jon Ross.

Ming-Te Chi, a researcher at National Chengchi University in Taiwan, analyzed photographs that gave viewers a sense of movement in 2008. Chi and his team believe that the arrangement of repeating color bands in small, asymmetrical drawings plays an important role in creating the effect of movement.

Additionally, combining different colors with high contrast will make the optical illusion stronger, for example combining black with white, blue and yellow.

According to VNE