A New Kind of Visual Illusion Uncovers How Our Brains Connect the Dots
upstart writes:
A New Kind of Visual Illusion Uncovers How Our Brains Connect the Dots:
A new class of illusion, developed by a visual artist and a psychology researcher, underscores the highly constructive nature of visual perception.
The illusion, which the creators label Scintillating Starburst," evokes illusory rays that seem to shimmer or scintillate-like a starburst. Composed of several concentric star polygons, the images prompt viewers to see bright fleeting rays emanating from the center that are not actually there.
[...] To better understand how we process this class of illusion, the researchers ran a series of experiments with more than 100 participants, who viewed 162 different versions of the Scintillating Starburst, which varied in shape, complexity, and brightness.
[...] The authors found that the confluence of several factors, including contrast, line width, and number of vertices, matters.
In particular, a large number of prominent intersection points leads to stronger and more vivid rays, as there are more cues to indicate the implied lines," observes Wallisch.
[...] Images and video of the Scintillating Starburst are available on Google Drive (Credit: Courtesy of Michael Karlovich, Recursia LLC).
Journal Reference:
Michael W. Karlovich, Pascal Wallisch. Scintillating Starbursts: Concentric Star Polygons Induce Illusory Ray Patterns. i-Perception, 2021; 12 (3): 204166952110187 DOI: 10.1177/20416695211018720
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