#rotating snakes

[littleorangesuitcase]

More: http://www.metafilter.com/166269/How-to-mess-with-a-cat-chapter-374

[phainophor-blog]

‚Rotating Snakes‘ and other optical illusions by Akiyoshi Kitaoka, Professor of Psychology at the Ritsumeikan University.

Kitaoka on ritsumei.ac.jp

[saidt08]

#1 Rotating Snakes

This image is called "Rotating Snakes". Stare at this for a few seconds. Do the circles appear to move? This is a motion illusion- the circles look like they're moving, but they're stationary the whole time.  Motion illusions work by using common geometric shapes that your brain recognizes. Here, the shapes are concentric circles. Because your brain associates the shapes with moving, staring at the concentric circles will make it appear as if they are in motion. If you blink, you'll notice they appear to move faster. If you stare at a fixed point on the image, the circles stop moving.