Description: Illusion pictures, information on optical illusions and tutorials on visual illusions.
This is a variation on M.C.Escher’s 1960 lithograph Ascending and Descending . At first we see the staircase leading into the distance, and ending in mid-air, but then at about 15 seconds in, the furthest point of the staircase lines up with the nearest point. At the same time the perspective cues that made the distant platform a bit smaller, and a bit paler, than the nearest platform vanish so that they appear the same size. Our brains then assume that they connect up, even though the result is a stai
This post is an update on a much earlier one , from 2008.
The snail appears to inflate, and yet its shape does not really change at all. Nor does the lighting change. All that changes is the character of the surface of the shell. It transforms from very shiny to completely matt and unreflective. Surfaces don’t change like that in the real world, but it’s easily achieved in 3D animation software, such as Blender , which I use.