Tim Leng - Optical Illusions: Over 80 of the most mind-bending, brain-melting illusions ever invented

optical illusions optical illusions Over 70 of the most mind-bending, brain-melting , illusions ever invented Compiled by Tim Leng Published in 2013 by Dog n Bone Books An imprint of Ryland Peters & Small Ltd

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www.rylandpeters.com 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Text Tim Leng 2013 Design Dog n Bone Books 2013 The authors moral rights have been asserted. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publisher. A CIP catalog record for this book is available from the Library of Congress and the British Library. eISBN: 978 1 782492 75 7 ISBN: 978 1 909313 08 8 Printed in China Text and image compilation: Tim Leng Editor: Pete Jorgensen Designer: Ashley Western Picture credits: see For digital editions, visit www.cicobooks.com/apps.php Optical illusions are funny old things.You can spend hours looking at them and see one thing, only to turn away then glance back a few seconds later to see something completely different. Its little wonder that many of us have long been fascinated by them in all their many forms and guises.

For example, I can distinctly remember the first stereogram image (yknow, the sort of things where theres a picture hidden within a picture) I ever saw: I was a little kid, and it was hanging in a shop window. After intently staring at the picture for what seemed like forever, I suddenly found myself confronted with a massive T-Rex looming out of the frame, all sharp teeth and tiny arms. It was terrifying and brilliant in equal measure, and I was addicted (to stereograms, I mean, not T-Rexes!). When I was first asked to compile this book I immediately knew that there were some classics of the genre that it would simply be rude not to includealthough weve breathed new life into them thanks to the talents of one of the many wonderful artists who have contributed to the bookbut what to feature beyond those defining images? To answer that, we trawled the globe looking for some of the best, most original, most awe-inspiring optical illusions we could find. The sort of illusions that would linger in your mind long after you first looked at them. Ones that youd look back at time and again, purely to try and work out exactly how it does what it does.

What follows, then, is a collection of the best of the very best, from the aforementioned classics to street art, stereograms to after imagestheres something here for everyone. Some will astound you, some will confuse you, and some will simply mess with your mind. Enjoy.

Move your eyes around the image and watch the circles rotate. What do you see a beautiful young lady or an old woman? How many legs does this elephant have? One picture, two totally different animals. What do you see a duck or a rabbit? Do you see a Native American warrior or an Eskimo braving the cold? This classic illustration will no doubt be familiar to many.
Is it a chalice or two faces staring at each other? A rain-drenched photograph taken beneath the Eiffel Tower, but can you see the face staring at you? Everything in this image moves! Are these builders working on the roof or the floor? A run-down house filled with balloons, or a beautifully realized optical illusion? A typical New York City fire escape but which way is up and which way is down? From afar you might be forgiven for thinking these two paintings just show human skulls, but look closer and youll see theres far more to them than meets the eye Place the page very close to your eyes, so you cant focus.
Slowly move the image away from your eyes but dont focus on the image.

It will start to appear in 3D.

Watch these baubles come to life as you move your eyes around the page! A seemingly impossible cube where its difficult to see whats at the front and whats at the back.