Test Your Brain With These Spellbinding Optical Illusion Contest Winners
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Now celebrating its fifteenth year, The Best Illusion of the Year is a fun contest hosted by the Neural Correlate Society in collaboration with the Museum of Mind. The competition encourages scientists and artists to showcase their ingenuity and creativity by submitting their best illusion through a short video. Here are this year's top 3 illusions selected by fans from the top 10 finalists in an online vote on December 13, 2019.
2019 Winner — Dual Axis
American game developer Frank Force took home the top prize of $3,000 for his spellbinding Dual Axis Illusion. The mirage features a deceptively simple illustration of the Greek ichthys fish symbol that seemingly defies logic by rotating around both the vertical and horizontal axis at once. Though visual clues introduced by Force allow the brain to perceive it revolving around a specific axis for short periods of time, the clever illusion returns as soon as the hints are removed.
2019 Runner-Up — Change the Color
University of Tokyo researcher Haruaki Fukuda's mind-boggling illusion, which alters an object's color based on movement, took home the second prize of $2000. In Change the Color, viewers will first see what appear to be rows of alternating red and green dots moving from top to bottom. However, if they focus on the animation long enough, the dots suddenly turn to yellow and start to move from left to right!
2019 Third Prize — The Rotating Circles
Ryan E.B. Mruczek and Gideon Paul Caplovitz, professors at the College of the Holy Cross and the University of Nevada, respectively, won the third prize and $1,000 with their submission, The Rotating Circles. In the mesmerizing video, a small circle is traveling along a perfectly circular path, until other moving circles are introduced. The original circle then appears to alter its path, either moving horizontally, vertically, side-to-side, or even in a triangular motion!
Closely observe all the illusions, including top-ten finalist, Magic Tic-Tac-Toe (below), and vote for your favorite one by adding your comments below.
Resources: illusionoftheyear.com, scientificamerican.com, gizmodo.com
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243 Comments
sophie16over 4 yearsI love all of them!!! But the rotating circles are kind of confusing😐
i_do_not_existover 4 yearsYeah, I didn´t get it either
greatskys716over 4 yearsI agree
traeheart77over 4 yearsMy favorite is Change The Color
patches2009over 4 yearstots cool
just_a_personover 4 yearsThe dual axis one was UNBELIVABLE!
purpledoggie810over 4 yearsI know right?
uwudauwuover 4 yearsthe checkered one was awesome
midnightgachaover 4 yearsI don't really get the Rotating Circles, what's the point of it?
cookiepotatouwualmost 5 yearsI don't get The Rotating Circles...
papaya07almost 5 yearsIt is very fun
whoami11somwonealmost 5 yearsMy favorite illusion is the dual axis one.
littleonealmost 5 yearsI like that game 🎮
