illusion

[Dr.CRClrfld]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YzgkFcOZEFE&mode=related&search=
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A "mona lisa" dragon

[Mellow]

Very cool, now, where can I get one?

[Tog]

Very cool, now, where can I get one?

Here's a site (http://www.grand-illusions.com/opticalillusions/dragon_illusion/) where you can download the PDF and make your own.

[Dr.CRClrfld]

Thanks Tog. :)

[afterburner]

Ok, I made one just now, and its not as impressive as it looks in the video :cry:

BUT! To be fair, I took out my digital camera to take a picture of it, so that I can show ppl on this board how I failed at making this dragon, and the head moves much like in the video on the camera screen...So its good for video camera/not-really-looking-looking, but not for real life. In other words, its not a showroom piece.

[Dr.CRClrfld]

Direction of the lighting may have something to do with that. I remember seeing one (it wasn't a dragon but some other visual illusion) in an exhibit at a planetarium many moons ago and it really fooled me.

[SeanF]

Ok, I made one just now, and its not as impressive as it looks in the video :cry:

BUT! To be fair, I took out my digital camera to take a picture of it, so that I can show ppl on this board how I failed at making this dragon, and the head moves much like in the video on the camera screen...So its good for video camera/not-really-looking-looking, but not for real life. In other words, its not a showroom piece.
It's probably a depth-perception thing.

Try looking at it in real life with one eye closed.

[Fazor]

It's probably a depth-perception thing.
Try looking at it in real life with one eye closed.

Yeah, I was gunna say that after looking at the .pdf. It says to look at it with one eye closed. Takes away depth perception. Which is probably why the effect works so good on camera.

With only one "eye", depth can only be estimated from other visual cues; parralell lines merging into each other in the distance for instance.

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See? road vanishing off into the distance, but it's really flat. (or is it a pine tree? hehe). Anywho, this seems to take advantage of that, and that's what makes the head appear to move. View it in "3d" and it ruins the illusion.

edit: formatting messed up my ascii pic! oh well, you get the idea.

[SeanF]

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There ya go. :)

[Fazor]

There ya go. :)


::cheers:: Thank you. I thought it was a rather ingenious piece of textual art. glad someone could salvage it! :)

[Sleepy_Sentry]

That's pretty cool. Imagine adding that allusion to something larger, like a statue or a building.