GabyG Lifestyle Magazine
Our mind is constantly trying to make sense of the world around us, and sometimes certain combinations of lines and colours result in optical illusions.
If you stare at this image for 10 to 20 seconds, the entire image will fade away until it completely disappears. This optical illusion is known as the Troxler effect (or Troxler fading). The basis of which is, if you focus on one tiny point, and the rest of the scene doesn't move, your eyes sort of becoming desensitised to it, and fade it into the background.
It’s unknown exactly how the effect occurs, and whether it’s the brain or the eyes (or both) that are responsible. What’s clear though, is that after prolonged fixation, unvarying stimuli soon fade from our awareness. The Troxler effect is enhanced if the stimulus is small, of low contrast, or is blurred, as in the image above.
