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Another Crazy Optical Illusion: There are 16 Circles in This Image

…and there's an interesting explanation for why you can't see them at first

By Rain Noe - August 17, 2017

in Visual Communication

This tricky visual is called "The Coffer Illusion." What do you see?

There are in fact 16 circles sitting right there in plain sight. Keep staring and eventually you'll see them, resulting in an odd feeling of satisfaction and/or a splitting headache.

According to Digg, here's why we can't see the circles at first:

The Coffer Illusion plays on the fact that the visual brain is heavily geared towards identifying objects. "Pixels" are grouped to form edges and contours, shapes, and finally objects.

Sometimes, as in the Coffer Illusion, there is no "right" grouping because the image is inherently ambiguous. Two different groupings make sense — a single set of horizontal lines can either form a circle, or be the intersection between two rectangles.

For most people, the grouping into rectangles initially dominates. This may be because rectangles (including the ones we see in door panels) are often more common than circles in our daily environment, and so the brain favors the grouping that delivers rectangular shapes.

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Kostas Syrtariotis

7 years ago

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The color of the lines is also important, as they give a depth illusion that makes the squares easily detectable for the brain.

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Luke Fabis

7 years ago

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My mind is thoroughly blown.

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