Call for Illusion Submissions: The Best Illusion of the Year Contest
Contestants are invited to submit 1-minute YouTube videos featuring novel illusions (unpublished or published no earlier than 2025) of all sensory modalities (visual, auditory, etc.) and/or cognitive nature. Novel variants of known illusions are welcome.
The content of the 1-minute video presenting your illusion is solely up to you, and the only requirement is that it wows all viewers! Some examples include, but are not limited to:
- A slide presentation, or succession of images, with a voice over (and/or written text, if you prefer)
- A video of yourself describing your illusion
- A video animation/theatrical performance of your illusion
An international panel of impartial judges will rate all the videos and narrow them down to the TOP TEN. Then, online voters around the world will choose their favorite illusions from the TOP TEN finalists.
The TOP THREE winners will receive cash prizes: $3,000 USD for first place; $2,000 USD for second place, and $1,000 USD for third place.
The Judge Panel will rate illusions according to:
- Significance to our understanding of the human mind and brain
- Simplicity of the description
- Sheer beauty
- Counterintuitive quality
- Spectacularity
Submissions will be held in strict confidence by the Judge Panel. Only the TOP TEN illusions will be posted online, to allow worldwide voting. Participation in the Best Illusion of the Year Contest does not preclude you from also presenting or submitting your work for publication elsewhere. By participating in the Best Illusion of the Year Contest you agree to have your illusion posted on the Contest website, if selected among the TOP TEN, and included in press releases and other promotional materials/fundraising initiatives for the Contest. You (and your co-authors, if appropriate) will retain the full copyright of your illusion and receive full credit as illusion creator(s).
Illusions submitted to previous editions can be re-submitted to the 2026 Contest, as long as they meet the above requirements and were not among the TOP TEN finalists in previous years.
You can send your 1-minute video to Susana Martinez-Conde via email (smart@neuralcorrelate.com) until December 14th, 2026.
On behalf of the Executive Board of the Neural Correlate Society:
Jose-Manuel Alonso, Stephen Macknik, Susana Martinez-Conde, Luis Martinez, Xoana Troncoso, Peter Tse
