The Best Optical Illusions of 2014

"Each year, the Neural Correlate Society holds a contest among experts on perception and visual illusions. The top 10 entries get selected by a panel, and the three best are then picked in an international gathering that I imagine as some sort of wizards convention. Here are are the winners." So says Gizmodo's Sploid. "The Dynamic Ebbinghaus [one of the winners; see below] takes a classic, static size illusion and transforms it into a dynamic, moving display. A central circle, which stays the same size, appears to change size when it is surrounded by a set of circles that grow and shrink over time. Interestingly, this effect is relatively weak when looking directly at a stationary central circle. But if you look away from the central circle or move your eyes, or if the entire stimulus move across the screen, then the illusory effect is surprisingly strong – at least twice as large as the classic, static Ebbinghaus illusion." Read and see more.