The Ambiguous Cylinder Illusion

Kokichi Sugihara won second place in the Illusion of the Year competition with this demonstration of a cylinder that is square on one side of the mirror and round on the other side. How’d he do that? This video shows how it’s done.



So it all hinges on the angle that you’re recording, or looking, from. Meanwhile, you have to wonder what illusion beat this one to place first. Here it is:



That would be Mathew T. Harrison and Gideon P. Caplovitz of the University of Nevada Reno. Their illusion is called “Motion Integration Unleashed: New Tricks for an Old Dog.” While it’s not as puzzling as the cylinders, this one becomes mind-blowing at about 24 seconds in. The twenty top-rated illusions are linked at the Illusion of the Year site. They’re all good. (via Neatorama)