It seems like everyone has seen the same basic optical illusions, images made to play on visual perspective, but every year the Neural Correlate Society awards the best new illusion.
For 2019, the winner is Frank Force. The nature of his optical illusion is that of a “Dual Axis”. A dual axis is “a series of twisting rings that appear to move clockwise, counterclockwise, and up or down” depending on the viewer’s perspective. Take a look at Force’s illusion below. How do you see it? As going clockwise or counterclockwise? As going around a vertical or horizontal axis?
Force himself is no stranger to digital art. In fact, he works as a game developer. His Dual Axis illusion only took him a day to code in JavaScript, as he explained in a Vice interview. Moreover, the Dual Axis is a product of experimentation with Lissajous curves, which are a “family of curves described by the parametric equations”. These parabolic curves are the foundation of Force’s illusion.
Before submitting the illusion to the Neural Correlate Society contest, Force showed it to a few people who were equally puzzled by his creation. During his Vice interview, Force made the following claim,
The ‘when you see it’ moment is extremely satisfying for this one. […] Also it is kind of a metaphor for seeing things from multiple points of view, which is more important now than ever.
(via Vice Magazine)
Image via Youtube.com
