Latest news with #opticalillusion
The Independent
a day ago
- The Independent
Viral video shows Canadian mill shrinking due to optical illusion
An abandoned mill in Port Colborne, Ontario, has become a viral internet sensation and local tourist attraction due to a mind-boggling optical illusion. Dubbed the 'Incredible Shrinking Mill,' the structure appears to get smaller the closer one approaches it, as demonstrated in popular social media videos. The phenomenon is caused by the Ponzo illusion, where converging lines, such as road edges, trees, and houses, trick the brain into perceiving objects differently sized. The Port Colborne grain terminal, which served the Great Lakes region for 125 years, has been vacant since the end of 2024. Local residents have been invited to submit suggestions for the future use of the historic structure.
The Independent
2 days ago
- The Independent
Glitch in the Matrix? The ‘shrinking mill' optical illusion that's baffled the Internet
A mind-boggling optical illusion has turned an abandoned mill in Canada into an unlikely Internet sensation and a local tourism attraction that 'leaves people in awe'. The structure by Gravelly Bay in Port Colborne, Ontario, has found fame because it appears to get smaller, the closer you get to it. It's been dubbed the 'Incredible Shrinking Mill' by the city's tourism board and recent point-of-view social media videos of the effect, shot from passing cars on Lakeshore Road, have gone viral. One such video shows the mill, near Sugarloaf Marina, looming large in the distance as the clip begins. The car moves slowly towards the marina along Lakeshore Road, lined with houses and trees, with the mill filling the gap between the trees. However, the closer the car gets, the smaller the mill appears. As the filmmaker arrives at the shore of the bay, where the road bends to the left, it shrinks still further until it recedes into the distance. One social media user described it as a 'glitch in the Matrix' and former Port Colborne Mayor Vance Badawey told The Welland Tribune that 'when people see it, they're just in awe'. He added: 'They slow almost to a stop to look at it, and then, nine times out of 10, you see them drive by again a few minutes later.' What's causing the mill to 'shrink' is an effect called the Ponzo illusion, named after Italian psychologist Mario Ponzo. He found that the brain can be fooled into thinking that two lines of identical size appear smaller and larger when placed one above the other in between converging lines on either side. Ponzo discovered that the line at the apex of the converging lines will appear larger than the line below it. In Port Colborne, the trees and houses act as those converging lines. A similar illusion was discovered by German psychologist Hermann Ebbinghaus, who found that two circles identical in size appear to be smaller and larger depending on the size of the circles surrounding them. The Port Colborne grain terminal served the Great Lakes region for 125 years but has been vacant since the end of 2024. Locals have been invited to suggest potential future uses for it.
Daily Mail
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
Can YOU spot the man with the moustache? Mind-boggling optical illusion has a second hidden person in it - so, can you see him?
From the cigar nestled in the brickwork to 'The Dress', many optical illusions have left viewers around the world baffled over the years. But the latest illusion is arguably one of the most bizarre yet. Dr Dean Jackson, a biologist and BBC presenter, has shared a strange illusion on TikTok, which reveals a hidden man when rotated. At the start of the video, a person with brown hair can be seen smiling at the camera. However, as the image is rotated, you should eventually spot a second person - a man with a bushy moustache. 'At what time does the man with a moustache appear in the clock for you?' Dr Jackson asks. The video has garnered huge interest across TikTok, with over 1.4 million views at the time of writing. 'I blinked and he appeared from nowhere,' one user commented, while another joked: 'I didn't see it, I blinked and then I got jump scared by it.' MailOnline tested the optical illusion, and was able to spot the man with the moustache by the time the image was at the 6 o'clock position. Many commenters agreed that the second man appeared at this time. Taking to the comments, one user wrote: '1st time 6 o'clock, but the 2nd time it was 4 o'clock.' Another added: 'About ten seconds after 6, second time 4. I had to de focus my eyes to see it the first time.' And one said: 'Didn't know what I was looking for until I blinked after 6 o'clock, and I was like wait! Where did he come from?' Others agreed that they needed to blink or look away from the image before they were able to spot the second man. 'Looked away when you said "what man" and there he was!' one user wrote. And one joked: 'I was about to say "what man?" and then I blinked and he appeared!' This isn't the first time that Dr Jackson has baffled social media users with hidden images. In another video, Dr Jackson presents a picture of a kookaburra sitting on a log. He then reveals that there is actually a second animal hidden somewhere in the picture that only a few keen-eyed viewers can spot. Dr Jackson describes this as an 'experiment on reframing and reimagining based on a prior image.' In the video, he says: 'A kookaburra perched in a tree, I want to know how quickly you can reframe what you've just seen when we move on to another picture. 'Lots of people who haven't seen the first picture before see a very different animal here.' WHAT IS THE CAFÉ WALL OPTICAL ILLUSION? The café wall optical illusion was first described by Richard Gregory, professor of neuropsychology at the University of Bristol, in 1979. When alternating columns of dark and light tiles are placed out of line vertically, they can create the illusion that the rows of horizontal lines taper at one end. The effect depends on the presence of a visible line of gray mortar between the tiles. The illusion was first observed when a member of Professor Gregory's lab noticed an unusual visual effect created by the tiling pattern on the wall of a café at the bottom of St Michael's Hill in Bristol. The café, close to the university, was tiled with alternate rows of offset black and white tiles, with visible mortar lines in between. Diagonal lines are perceived because of the way neurons in the brain interact. Different types of neurons react to the perception of dark and light colours, and because of the placement of the dark and light tiles, different parts of the grout lines are dimmed or brightened in the retina. Where there is a brightness contrast across the grout line, a small scale asymmetry occurs whereby half the dark and light tiles move toward each other forming small wedges. These little wedges are then integrated into long wedges with the brain interpreting the grout line as a sloping line. Professor Gregory's findings surrounding the café wall illusion were first published in a 1979 edition of the journal Perception. The café wall illusion has helped neuropsychologists study the way in which visual information is processed by the brain. The illusion has also been used in graphic design and art applications, as well as architectural applications. The effect is also known as the Munsterberg illusion, as it was previously reported in 1897 by Hugo Munsterberg who referred to it as the 'shifted chequerboard figure.' It has also been called the 'illusion of kindergarten patterns', because it was often seen in the weaving of kindergarten students.
Daily Mail
7 days ago
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
People alarmed as mom asks 'find my daughter' in scenic rock photo... can you spot her in 20 seconds?
A parent on Reddit challenged people to find their daughter in a clever hideaway that left viewers completely puzzled. User Snzzyman posted a photo on the 'find the sniper' thread of a seaside rock structure covered in small sea creatures in Bay of Islands, New Zealand. The completely normal looking picture of a rock turned out to be a challenge. The poster's daughter was hiding somewhere behind a hole in the rock and finding her in the photo was more of a feat than many Reddit users were expecting. It left people feeling panicked, confused, and even a little spooked. Snzzyman said that they saw the opportunity for the perfect optical illusion and just had to take it. 'Long term snipe fan!' they wrote. 'I saw great potential when I saw the little hole in the rock haha.' But the hole with the daughter's face peering through was not so easily found. Take a look at the photo and see if you're as easily stumped as the comment section. Can you find her face in the photo in less than 20 seconds? How did you do? If you were unable to solve the puzzle in the blink of an eye, you're in good company. The picture left most people completely confused. Some gave off-base answers while others gave up altogether. One user wrote: 'I spent more time trying to uncover the scale of the picture than finding her. I have to say I thought it was a huge mountain and when I saw her face I actually gasped. This was a great one.' Another said: 'Let's face it, that was a good one.' 'Took a while to spot. Peak-a-boo,' a third joked. A few people intricately searched the photo only to be startled when the answer popped out at them unexpectedly. 'NGL I got a little freaked out,' one user commented. Another agreed: 'Ha! I zoomed right into it and she jump-scared me.' The element of surprise appeared to be common with one viewer exclaiming: 'I can't see any- OH MY GAWD!!!' And some people were just seeing things: '2/3rds down from the top, 2/3rds across to the right, wearing a dark blue, long-sleeved jacket and pants that match the color of the rock, arms raised, maybe also taking a picture of you?' So if you're still stumped, you're in good company. The daughter's toothy smile can be seen through a tiny hole just right of center on the rock structure. If you zoom in three quarters of the way up, you should be able to see her grin. From far away it's hard to even tell that the rock has a hole in it, but when searching the picture completely zoomed in, she stuck out like a sore thumb.
Daily Mail
06-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
Man spends two days looking for his lost waller, but can you see it?
A frustrated social media user spent two full days searching for his missing wallet... only to discover it was right in front of his eyes the entire time. Sharing a bathroom photo where the cash holder went missing on Reddit, the snap quickly went viral as the Internet obsessively tried to spot the camouflaged item. At first glance, the image shows a perfectly ordinary bathroom, with some people calling the photo one of the best optical illusions they've seen in months while others spotted the wallet on the floor in seconds. Reddit users dove into the challenge - with many admitting they had absolutely no clue what they were even supposed to be looking for and had the caption not mentioned a wallet they'd have been stumped. One person said: 'If you didn't say this, I would've never understood this photo,' one person confessed. Another joked: 'As a dude, most of our wallets are just big black squares, so it's immediately where my mind went.' One said: 'I literally didn't register that it was supposed to look like the floor pattern until I got to the comments. I was so confused. Others claimed they'd never have spotted it: 'If I walked in that bathroom, I'd probably never see it,' wrote one. 'You'd probably step on it and find it immediately,' another added. 'Oh so that's where I lost my wallet five years ago…'
