An Optical Illusion That Will Rock Your World [Kicking Back with Jersey Joe]

Want to make your world all wavy and crazy for a few moments?  Just stare at this video for a few and prepare to be wowed!

It’s completely safe.  I tested it on myself and now I’m typing away at this blogumn.  The effects last about a minute.

The best advice to make this work properly is to click the maximize box at the bottom right corner of the video.  Then, place your face up close to your computer monitor and stare at the center screen so the image completely fills your field of vision.  Now, get ready for some fun!

One of the newest fads online is optical illusion videos.  There are hundreds, if not thousands, posted on Youtube.  Simply stare at the screen for a short period of time, and then look away when instructed.  I probably tried several dozen, with most giving me the same results as you hopefully just hot, and many did nothing at all.

When starting at an image for a long period of time, the brain becomes fixated on the subject, and almost records a negative image.  Quickly taking the object away, give you an opposite image left over in your field of view.  Since these videos are moving and only in black and white, the image is superimposed over what you are seeing for a few seconds, giving the illusion of movement.

A fun experiment we did in elementary school was to take a piece of green construction paper and stare at it for about a minute.  Take it away and you will get an exact red opposite image, stored in your visual field for a moment.  Try it!

The videos posted online are based on the same principle, but there are a few bad apples out there.

Some of these videos promise to offer self hypnosis or relaxation.  The viewer is suckered into watching and then after a few minutes – a big surprise.  The jokester will edit in a monster or zombie face and loud screaming to interrupt your serene session and scare the daylights out of you.  Just be warned if you decide to try a few more of these out…  I found out the hard way!

THE 411

What: rotating optical illusion video

Effects: causes visual field to wave and distort after watching for a few minutes

Available: Youtube and Facebook

JERSEY JOE RECOMMENDS:

Check this out.  The video I chose above should be safe unless you are prone to dizziness or epileptic seizures.  Use at your own risk and treat it as how you would react to a room full of strobe lights.  It’s a fun experiment that only costs two minutes of your time and is also great to share with the kids.

Image credit – Chambres Noires