A rotating spokes wheel defined only by disparity cues appears stationnary when fixating the center of rotation. With peripheral fixation, one can infer the wheel’s rotation by tracking single spokes. – While there exist cleary stereo motion detectors, stereo rotation detectors are either missing or inhibited by the presence of a stationary texture.
Read more about the illusion and possible explanations
Circumfluous contours can elicit a length-contrast illusion. Mirror-imaged faces are arranged with the four irises absolutely equidistant. The distance between the middle two irises is perceived as shorter than the distances between the left two or right two irises in an Asian face, whereas it is perceived as longer in a Caucasian face. This illusion remains when the irises are presented together with line drawings of the eye shape, but it disappears when only the isolated irises are presented. The illusion is independent of orientation (no inversion effect) and viewer”s race (no race effect).
Read more about the illusion and possible explanations
An object (e.g. airplane) is turning on a surround (greenhouse), which is swaying back and forth. Observe the rotation of the object. Is it turning smoothly all the time? Or does it “freeze” from time to time? Convince yourself by covering the swaying surround that the object is really turning continuously. If the object is swaying back and forth and the surround is turning continuously we do not perceive a slow-down of the surround. Assuming a stable surround, our visual system probably uses the surround as a reference to measure motion of the included objects.
Read more about the illusion and possible explanations
See an interactive version of the The Freezing Rotation Illusion at Michael Bach’s “Optical Illusions & Visual Phenomena” website
The Freezing Rotation IllusionMax R. DürstelerNature Precedings 2007. 371.1
Best Illusion of the Year Contest Celebrating Creativity in Illusions Since 2005
© 2025 Best Illusion of the Year Contest. All Rights Reserved.
Sign up to our newsletter
