perception

Seeing isn’t always believing! Enter the world of optical illusions where your eyes may see things that your brain doesn’t understand. Explore how and why you see optical illusions, and discover the many types created over time. It is used in art, science, maths and our everyday lives. See for yourself how your eyes can fool you by exploring our optical illusion gallery. You may never see things the same again!

EYES CAN FOOL

Is the water running up or down? (Escher)

Look at the spot and then move nearer to the screen

You have two different type of nerve cells in your eye: rods and cones. The cones let us see colour, and the rods are very sensitive to shades of brightness. These cells, however, are not located in the same places in the eye. In the center of the retina, there are only cones, and no rods. Around the edges of the retina, there are less cones and more rods. The part of your eye that gives you the sharpest image is the center of the retina. So, if you see something out of the corner of your eye that you want to see more clearly, you need to turn your eye. If you stare at complimentary colours for a long time, your retina becomes tired with that color and causes optical illusions.