The Illusion Only Some Can See
Ames window illusion illustrates how we don't directly perceive external reality. Special Holiday deal! Go to NordVPN.com/veritasium and use code VERITASIUM to get 68% off a 2 year plan plus 4 additional months free. It’s risk free with Nord’s 30 day money-back guarantee!
Special thanks to:
Prof. Phil Kellman from UCLA Psychology kellmanlab.psych.ucla.edu
Museum of Illusions in Los Angeles for the use of their Ames Room laillusions.com
Curiosity Show - Video on Ames Illusion: seworld.info/will/eqO6tK6ud5SJtGA/video
References:
Ames, A., Jr. (1951). Visual perception and the rotating trapezoidal window. Psychological Monographs: General and Applied, 65(7), i-32. doi.org/10.1037/h0093600
Marcel de Heer & Thomas V. Papathomas (2017) The Ames Window Illusion and Its Variations
DOI:10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199794607.003.0014
Oross, Stephen, Francis, Ellie, Mauk, Deborah & Fox, Robert. (1987). The Ames Window Illusion: Perception of Illusory Motion by Human Infants. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception & Performance, 13(4), 609-613.
Behrens, R. (1987). The Life and Unusual Ideas of Adelbert Ames, Jr. Leonardo, 20(3), 273-279. doi:10.2307/1578173
Burnham, C., & Ono, H. (1969). Variables Altering Perception of the Rotating Trapezoidal Illusion. The American Journal of Psychology, 82(1), 86-95. doi:10.2307/1420609
Allport, G. W., & Pettigrew, T. F. (1957). Cultural influence on the perception of movement: The trapezoidal illusion among Zulus. The Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology, 55(1), 104-113. doi.org/10.1037/h0049372
Zenhausern R. Effect of Perspective on Two Trapezoid Illusions. Perceptual and Motor Skills. 1969;28(3):1003-1009. doi:10.2466/pms.1969.28.3.1003
Gehringer, W. L., & Engel, E. (1986). Effect of ecological viewing conditions on the Ames' distorted room illusion. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance, 12(2), 181-185. doi.org/10.1037/0096-1523.12.2.181
Long, G.M., Toppino, T.C. Adaptation effects and reversible figures: A comment on Horlitz and O’Leary. Perception & Psychophysics 56, 605-610 (1994). doi.org/10.3758/BF03206956
Gregory RL. Looking through the Ames window. Perception. 2009;38(12):1739-40. doi: 10.1068/p3812ed. PMID: 20192124.
Jahoda, G. (1966). Geometric illusions and environment: A study in Ghana. British Journal of Psychology, 57(1-2), 193-199. doi.org/10.1111/j.2044-8295.1966.tb01019.x
V. Mary Stewart (1974) A Cross-Cultural Test of the “Carpentered World” Hypothesis Using The Ames Distorted Room Illusion, International Journal of Psychology, 9:2, 79-89, DOI: 10.1080/00207597408247094
Margaret Kathleen Cappone (1966) The Effect of Verbal Suggestion on the Reversal Rate of the Ames Trapezoid Illusion, The Journal of Psychology, 62:2, 211-219, DOI: 10.1080/00223980.1966.10543786
Researched and written by Petr Lebedev and Derek Muller
Filmed by Derek Muller and Raquel Nuno
Animations, VFX, and Music by Jonny Hyman
Ames Room VFX and additional Ames Window animation by Nicolas Pratt
Additional Music from epidemicsound.com "Life in Color" "Singularity"
Large Ames window construction by GW Construction
Video supplied by Getty Images
The illusion work then didn't for me
It's wetware hacking! But when you (asymmetric human) were on it, the illusion broke. The ruler is still symmetric. Your feet and your head transposed break the "symmetry" of the twist/oscillation
omg when the ruler was in the middle i actually saw it go around in a circle
I actually don't see the illusion at all? To me it's a trapezoid rotating. I saw the deheer circle oscillate once, but then it went back to rotating.
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You know you've seen too many memes when he says in the beginning "I'm going to turn myself into" the first word that came across your mind was "a pickle". I need an appointment with my psychiatrist...
Halfway through the video my brain started to figure out when the small side is passing in front. It still looks oscillating but is also rotating, somehow.
They shouldn't show these things to babies. Messing with their minds.
uhhhhhh wtf
If I want, I can choose to see the rotation rather than oscillation. I can also switch the rotation in my view of the spinning dancer. Maybe I'm just good like that, but maybe it's related to some of my quirks. I'm both dyslexic and fully ambidextrous, so sidedness is far less concrete to me.
my brain hurts
I wish you gave us a thing we can print and hang in our rooms or something.
Yeah..big deal. The illusion is created by the fact that the "window" in case has some shadowing which creates the illusion of 3D while we all see this on a 2D computer monitor. If we would have seen this in real life we wouldn't be fooled because that 3D shadowing wouldn't be in line with the 3D image created by our brains using the images provided by our own two eyes. People often forget that what we see on monitors is not reality.
That's what the banks did with your money
My favourite so far
You along with many other Science GURUS are why we live in a more in-depth time of curiosity, investigations & establishment . Until another comprehends as we as explains, extending your knowledge building upon it, it is a similar realm Math has taken up to Einstein & beyond . Discovery channels ‘ FITTINGLY ‘ representing any science will always inspire the curious one .
Spifey be like: Finally I can steal another braincell with this optical illusion >:D
The rubix cube was crazy but the ruler is NUTS. Just breaks your brain.
4:08 I could see it here but not in the dark
spinning ball or flat earth
Am I the only one who saw that the Rubiks cube was impossible to solve?🤣
I appreciate the conclusion of this video. Thanks dude.
Good subject. Well made video. Excellent presentation.
“Woah, how is this even possible?!” *picture is spinning* “Whaaatt?!!!”
I had it. I had it broken. But I can’t do now. But I had to cheat by looking at the tiny edge of the card
Recall the Willy Wonka candy factory.
If you focus really hard on one corner, you can see through the illusion
I could immediately tell which of the 2 white faces was an indent and which one was sticking out due to the lighting lol
At first I could only see the illusion, after seeing the ruler revolve a few times i started to see what really happened lol!
There's an Ames room in Citizen Kane - Kane talks to a window in a room, and seems to shrink.
WITCH!
If I can focus on what is actually happening I can see it normally.
I managed to see it :O like I'm actually seeing the way it actually works not the illusion
If I try really hard, I can see it rotating, but I normally see it oscillating
I see it rotating actually even if I live in las Los Angeles
"A Little more humility, and a little less certainty" an eternal quote.
omg omg... the curiosity show! the tv show that inspired me to follow science and technology as a child! good gravy do i feel old now! :-( the rubics cube ruined the illusion. btw, there is a physical full room size version of this down the road from my place as a council art piece. im pretty sure you can see it on google maps
I was actually able to bypass this trickery 😼
Y am I having giddi😂
Ok it's kinda awkward when you see it spinning not going back and forth
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That Ames window is an absolute pain in the brain!
И русские такие:🗿🗿🗿
Wow. A lot of illusions don't work on me, so I'm kind of glad this one mostly does. (MY brain can _sometimes_ see it rotating correctly. I wonder what this says about my neural wiring.)
Man my eyes R stoopid. Y R they so stoopid?
This video made me motion sick🤢 lol
life itself is an illusion
@nineball039 bigger illusion
What is death?
Here's how you break the illusion. Stand in front of the rotating model, close enough that the big and small edge hit you in the face (without stopping the rotation of the model) at each pass alternately. After a few of those hits, the illusion is gone.
Or lay down underneath it.
3:59 is it just me or does this guy kinda look like matpat
Simply amazing effect!
Fascinating presentation. Skillfully assembled, organized, and summarized. A lot to think about. Suggestions to improve the series: ==> Shave ==> Comb your hair
Who needs acid when our perception already distorts reality?
when i realized how to see it rotating, i can't see it oscillating anymore
if you focus on one of the edges, you could kind of perceive it correctly
Clearly Leonardo knew how to give side-eye, you say? Well I for one preferred his side-boobs, but there ya go.
it had me at first, as soon as you started to explain i was able to track both swing and rotation by focusing on each object separately. i can also see the illusion alternately with the swing and rotation by changing my focus object... knowing is the trick!!! Great video, liked and subscribed;-)
no wonder we're sssoooooo 'dumb'.... we have not even a brain to help us 😂
But a 5-month old infant does?
I'd like to see the Ames window with different colors. ie: one that is completely solid color, one with different colored sides, one that has gradient color etc .
really like this Video - THX a lot
i see it rotating when u put things through it
Ernst Mach was right !!
this is sooooo confusing
Amazing..
Am I the only one that can sometimes see through the illusion and is still sometimes tricked by this special illusion?
I squinted my eyes on this video more than in my whole life
The curiosity Show, i loved it.
If you focus on the small part, it will be normal
So, you're saying COVID1984 is a hoax? NOW, we're getting somewhere. Open Up and Throw away the face diaper...NOW!
Okeyy, i legit got a headache watcn this. hahaha.... Never thought "Real eyes realize real lies" would be so practical hahaha
Very interesting video!
Seeing at first sight the illusion trick us but just focus on the lonher side of the window and not in the object surrounded by that window and you will see what's really happening hopee you gets
I see it normally
omg i finaly saw it rotating, and not going back and forth
Please arabic sub
"From the winnddooowww to the waalllll...Ahhh"
Ames needed to make a trapezoid chair. Much more fun.
1 eye closed, now all the kids lack depth perception. 6+ minutes in vid.
after trying for 10 times i ca figure it out easily
lmao just look at it from the top
For me the illusion begins to fail the more I see it. At first it worked great but now my eyes focus too much on the small side and it starts to break the illusion. Its like it is fluctuates between rotating and oscillating
Atlast Nord VPN came here 😂😂
I cant watch this. My head hurts now
I can actually see the whole window rotating but it’s kinda hard I have to concentrate really hard
I can see the oscillating, but from the start could force myself to also see it rotating (with a few lapses)
All jokes aside but this guy should use this theory with effects of how acid manipulates our perception in the same way. Hey science guy would you drop acid and compare the results to this theory? and remember its for science but you must record it
I can see it both ways I'm just d I f f e r e n t
The wierd circle one I could swe it turning normaly noot as a ilusian
Staring at this is potentially the most infuriating thing I've had happen in a long time, just knowing I'm wrong but being unable to ever see what's right.
Amazing video.
Mind blown
watched 20 times still can't teach myself it's turning a full circle. :(
I could see it if I just squinted, and after watching it a few times like that, I can see it.
So after watching for a bit ...If i look at the smaller corners and have my eyes visualize the path its taking...i can actually follow it spinning.
Thank you for that interesting insight
Didn't control for race, poor experiment.
I would love to make one of those window panes. Where to start?
9:48 - Voiceover: "Acid".
this music sounds like music from halo reach
Every time I try to recognize the illusion my brain is like 'NOPE NOPE NOPE THAT'S NOW HOW IT IS'
I know what's happening, but I still can't make my brain adapt to this knowledge. The f$%&@ing window still is oscillating! 🥴