My brain initially read that as “THE” and “CHAT” …
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To the neurotypical among us, this is indeed an illusion. To us it looks like an object with a dark grey top and a white bottom, and our brains insist on seeing the bottom as lighter than the top. When we place our fingers over the seam, breaking up the appearance of a 3D object, we are surprised to note that the absolute grey value of the top and bottom are the same.
As a graphics geek, I know all about the illusions exploited by illustrators, but I still feel the twang in my brain when I cover the seam and uncover it, as my brain interprets the image either way. I don’t know how I’d cope if my head-meat didn’t try to trick me like that. To see things as they actually are isn’t always a blessing.
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To us it looks like an object with a dark grey top and a white bottom, and our brains insist on seeing the bottom as lighter than the top.
It is a dark grey top with a white bottom. White appears grey when less light hits it. That’s what shadows are.
To see things as they actually are isn’t always a blessing.
Seeing things as they are is not a blessing or a curse, but a learned skill that has allowed me to enjoy a 20 year career as a working artist. The checkerboard example above is a more convincing example of simultaneous contrast, but neither are super mind-blowing IMO. Slow news day at Boing Boing.
Would I be a terrible person if I said this was 50 shades of great?
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As it’s a learned skill, you should be able to appreciate that not everyone has it. Old news to you isn’t necessarily old news to everyone, or even most people.
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I realise this is something you would have to be aware of as an artist (i.e. not necessarily reaching for a lighter shade for ‘lighter’ areas if you’re dealing with light and shadow), but do you know any examples of this kind of effect being used to deceive, in the same way that 3/4 sized furniture is sometimes used in show homes to give the impression of spaciousness?
Edit: here’s one example: http://www.npr.org/blogs/thesalt/2012/01/28/145865238/deception-diet-how-optical-illusions-can-trick-your-appetite
Ha. This explains some brainfucks I sometimes have to deal with when cutting web designs to templates/css/other assets.
To us it looks like an object with a dark grey top and a white bottom, and our brains insist on seeing the bottom as lighter than the top.
It is a dark grey top with a white bottom. White appears grey when less light hits it. That’s what shadows are.
Uh. No. It’s a gray top with a same shade of gray bottom. There is no shadow (unless half your monitor is under a tree.)
It’s all pixels.
And it is indeed an optical illusion.
really? 
to some people, i’m guessing those with less image manipulation experience, these still look different colors. but maybe more so if you’ve seen the original and are picturing the 3d effects
Are these posts refuting somehow what I said? (That the other visual cues need to be out of the way before simply getting rid of the “seam” made them look the same to me?)
If so, not sure how it does–you illustrated how getting rid of the other cues makes it much easier to see them both the same when the shading between them is blocked.
And that it is indeed an optical illusion.
Right?
nope. meant to contribute to your assertions. at least in the second case.
in the one where i didn’t stretch the color across the seam, i was just saying that to me the illusion still works without the background and surrounding 3D rendered edges.
Ok-- here’s a solid grey cat. Don’t see it? Just cover up everything except the two areas indicated by the arrows with your hands. It’s an illusion!
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Not simultaneous contrast effects. But when I used to work for a photo studio that shot furniture for a major retailer, we were asked to book shorter models to make their sofas appear larger. Never trust catalog photography.
Ah. And so you did.
I agree, it does work without the extra bits. But the other stuff is there for a reason–it gives an illusion of distance and shape, which causes the mind to make allowances for expected light/shadow behavior. Even without the seam shading, the illusion still occurs to some degree, at least for me, the bottom still looks lighter.
.
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Woah! It’s like you thought that example made a point and was funny, but it didn’t and it wasn’t!
Freaked. Me. the. Fuck. OUT!
[quote=“Dudlebug, post:33, topic:15864”]
It’s an illusion![/quote]
Yes. Yes, it is. All photography and illustration is illusory. Ceci n’est pas un chat.
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