Slashdot Mirror
The Goggles, They Do Nothing
Suchetha writes "In anticipation of a slow news day i would like to direct the Slashdot hordes to Akiyoshi Kitaoka's Optical Illusions page. The page also has explanations on why/how they occur (in icky PDF format). The page is on a .jp uni server so they SHOULD be able to handle the herd of rhinos that is ./."
Some of these are on display on out-of-the-way doors in the Exploratorium science museum in San Francisco. It looked like some of the staff members had printed them out and posted them there for their own personal satisfaction, but a lot of the visitors were finding themselves distracted from the bigger attractions to stare at these.
It was trippy to have the spinning snakes one as my wallpaper for some time, but at six by four feet, it really does begin to make you a little dizzy.
Because I could...nay..have found myself staring at these for periods, and assummed I will get a bit of headache, of that they are bad for my vision (thus forcing myself to stop).
"You know you don't act like a scientist, you're more like a game show host." Dana Barret
The laboratory of Dale Purves at the Duke University Medical Center is also researching visual illusions. Check out www.purveslab.net for interactive animations (yes, it's a Flash site).
He's also written a book entitled Why We See What We Do: An Empirical Theory of Vision.
We prefer the term "crash" to refer to a gathering of us... herds are so... blaise.
Congregations of other animals have different terms...
A murder of crows
A gaggle of geese
A pounce of cats
An ambush of tigers
More can be found here.
These optical devices could potentially be quite useful... going to have a play :-).
Engineering is the art of compromise.
A very cool illusion is available here. Try looking inside of the triangle defined by the yellow dots, as the blue dots wander around. After a few moments, the yellow dots begin to blink in and out of your visual consciousness. It's quite a powerful effect.
they sure do! i didn't know if they would (i can't see those cool 3d effects with the glasses, since those require your brain to coprocess the difference between two images). apparently these illusions are based upon something different. probably just perspective.
Check out this image. The squares marked "A" and "B" are the same shade of grey. If you don't believe me, open the page in a paint program and check out the colors.
One of my customers had the computer sitting in the corner, so as you face the computer, you're also facing the corner.
The trouble was, the wallpaper was vertical blue and white stripes, each about 1 inch (2,5 cm) wide, covering both walls.
Sitting at the computer, seeing the striped wallpaper in your peripheral vision, you would get the unnerving feeling the monitor was attacking you, slowly approaching you, menacingly. (It didn't help that the monitor was on an elevated platform, so you actually had to look up at it.)
After a few years, they covered the wallpaper with wood paneling.
Give me my freedom, and I'll take care of my own security, thank you.
Don't /. the mirror that helps against /.ing!
The real funny part would be when they actually get on slashdot and start mirroring themselves.
Do you care about the security of your wireless mouse?