It’s all a result of the poor quality of our eyes.
One of the things that the internet likes most could be optical illusions.
And it just acquired a new one: an odd image of overlapping grids that offers the perfect balance of fun and annoyance.
A white backdrop with crossing grey lines gives it a straightforward appearance.
However, gazing carefully causes it to move, and although though there are 12 black dots within, only a few of them can be seen at once.
Nobody understood the cause. Since it was released over the weekend, the pic has been shared hundreds of times, piqueing interest in the mystery and inspiring people to take a look.
The excitement of things not being what they appear is an element of this optical illusion, like all others.
The fact that there are 12 dots even if it doesn’t appear that way serves as a playful reminder that we might be deceived about the outside world.
The image was reposted over the weekend, although it was first published in a journal called Perception, which frequently talks about these tests and what they may teach us about how people think.
The article, displayed the unusual result and discussed it.
The abstract of the study said that “when the white circles in a scintillating array become smaller in size and drawn in black, they typically vanish.”
“Only a handful of them are visible at once, grouped in chaotic movements on the page.
The grey lanes appear to be continuous when they are not observed, creating grey bridges that are truly there.
When a crossing lacks a visible disk, some dark twinkling can be observed.
In opposite contrast, the illusion also appears to exist.
Because of flaws in human peripheral vision, the effect occurs.
We are adept at seeing objects directly in front of us, but if you try to gaze at something in your peripheral vision, it will at best appear as hazy shapes.
Your eyes aren’t even picking up on some of those blurs’ details.
Instead, there are gaps that the brain fills up with the knowledge around them.
This means that even if you anticipate to be able to see something, you can be able to see forms that don’t actually exist or miss something that is actually there.
That seems to be what the recently circulated photograph depicts.
It’s not the first time that effect has been used in a test, and given how popular the internet is, it won’t be the last either.