Necker cube – how we see in 2 different ways

Thanks to Dave Munger on ScienceBlogs, it is now possible to understand why and how a cube can be seen in two different ways.

The first cube (A) is ambiguous because it can be recognized in two different ways (either cube B or cube C) and this perception can change from time to time if you keep looking at it. It’s not a perceptual illusion per se, but a visual reconstruction by our brain. And this same process is often used by optical illusions.

Now, “Seeing shapes in two different ways: how and when it happens” is a good paper trying to give us a better understanding of this phenomenon and even showing a video to support the explanations.

Bridget Riley, the enigma of Op Art

Bridget Riley, whose work was exposed in Paris a few months ago, is an artist who is worth mentionning to all optical illusions lovers since many of her works are based upon these phenomenons.

Cataract 3, Bridget Riley, 1967
Cataract 3, Bridget Riley, 1967

The research of some neuro-physiologists allowed to study the cerebral mechanisms inside those paintings and to determine that our brain needs some time to be tricked by optical illusions (the effect merely disappears if the painting is disclosed only shortly -during a split second- by an electronic flash light).

Source: ScienceBlogs