An international team of researchers has created a rather impressive optical illusion. Although the image is completely static, it gives most observers the impression of observing an expanding black hole.
A growing sense of darkness
When you look at the image above, do you feel that the black spot in the center is gradually expanding? If so, that means you’re like the vast majority of humans, according to new work published in the journal. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience.
The experiments carried out by Bruno Laengof the’university of osloand his colleagues involved 50 adult subjects (31 females and 19 males) with normal eyesight, who were asked to look at the optical illusion.
In total, subjects were made to observe 26 versions of the illusion, featuring different combinations of colors, spots, and dots. It turns out that the simple combination shown above (with a spot and black dots on a white background) produced the strongest reaction, with 86% of participants feeling the hole was getting bigger.
” The ‘expanding hole’ is a very dynamic illusion, the circular spot or gradient shadow of the central black hole creates a marked sensation of optical flow, as if the observer is heading towards a hole or a tunnel “, details Laeng.
“These experiments show that the pupil reacts to the way we perceive light”
The team also found that the more intense the perception of the illusion, the more pupils subjects dilated. Which suggests that their brains reacted as if they were actually entering a dark tunnel, dilating the central area of the eye in order to catch more light.
” These experiments show that the pupil reacts to the way we perceive light “, continues Laeng. ” Although the amount of light energy the eye absorbs does not change, the optical illusion causes a corresponding dilation of the pupil, as would occur if the darkness actually increased.. »
The study authors hope that these results will provide insight into how our visual system interprets the world around us.
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