We are now hours away from leaving 2021 behind. For many, this year has been spent trying to get over the stress and shock of 2020. Of course, we cannot say that we have enough time to listen to our heads due to the turbulent agenda in our country. While our minds are tired, we can take a look at other events to distract us. This news, in which we have compiled the winners of the Best Illusions of the Year Contest, proves once again that not everything is as it seems.
Ghost Queen (Matt Pritchard)
The winner of the competition, Matt Pritchard, exhibits the illusion of deceiving even chess players with ‘The Phantom Queen’, which he calls the ‘ghost queen’.
The Changing Room Illusion (Michael A. Cohen)
This mind-blowing illusion by Michael A. Cohen pushes the boundaries of our perceptions. Look carefully at the first room shown…Is there anything different that you see? You will realize ‘slowly’ what has changed…
Double Ring Illusion (Dawei Bai and Brent Strickland)
When you look carefully at the ‘+’ sign, how do you see the circles move? This illusion, called the Double Ring, shows how two objects performing the same motion can look different depending on changing situations.
Slippers and Socks (Pascal Wallisch and Micheal Karlovich)
In the normal pictures shown, the colors of the slippers are obvious. However, when the colors of the socks change, you will see that it is not that easy… To give a small tip; Under green light, pink objects appear gray and white objects appear green.
The City That Made Out of Nothing (Christopher Tyler and David Phillips)
In order for people to perceive three-dimensional objects, corners and general lines must be clear. However, the same effect can be created when moving to see it from different perspectives…
Oh La La Box (Oliver and Chloe Redon)
Perhaps one of the best examples of optical illusion is the illusion called the ‘Oh La La’ Box. This illusion reveals that our brain focuses on events that ‘should exist’, not ‘existing’ events.
Slime Hand (Yutaro Sato, Kento Imai and Kenri Kodaka)
The Slime Hand illusion also reveals how quickly our brain can be deceived by ‘apparent realities’. The perception in the brain is very interesting when the same movements are applied to the participants’ own hands and to the slime hands at the same time.
Rising Object Illusion (Kokichi Sugihara)
Kokichi Sugihara has won the Best Illusion of the Year Competition several times in the past years. Therefore, we can say that he is well known in this field. This illusion also reveals how some objects can be shown longer than they are when viewed from certain angles.
The Cube Problematic (Michael Cheshire)
An example of how flat objects can be represented in three dimensions with shadows and lighting is illustrated by Michael Cheshire’s The Cube Problematic illusion.
Ghost Selector (Peter Veto)
Instead of showing an illusion that he created, Peter Veto draws attention to an illusion that many people experience but have difficulty making sense of. This illusion, which he calls the Ghost Selector, deals with the flashing of an external light source while inside a vehicle, as if making a ‘dial flasher’. This phenomenon, the cause of which is not fully known, causes the normally regularly emitted light to appear ‘intermittently on’. This illusion is especially visible when drivers look at the cars behind them through the rear view mirror.
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