Optical illusions certainly make us think a lot about how our brain configures images through points of view. As in the case of this optical illusion of distorted faces, where the same photo presents itself in different ways depending on how we look at it.
Read more: Optical Illusion: What colors can you perceive?
see more
Visual challenge: find the word 'DOG' in just 5…
Unravel the illusion: which direction is this circle moving?
The premise of this illusion is relatively simple, as it consists in the distortion of faces through different combinations. However, this is not a montage where features from two different faces are mixed.
In fact, researcher Matthew Thomson discovered it by chance during a study dealing with human faces. In this case, he discovered that the repetitive view of these faces promoted a distortion of them.
Thus, this then undergraduate student focused on the change in perception of the same objects when someone stares at them for a long time. However, it is necessary to point out that this illusion will work when we are not looking at the faces directly.
Therefore, it is necessary to establish a focus so that the faces are in the background. Then, just let your mind start changing the features of each of the faces until they reach a scary point.
The researcher points out that, in fact, the optical illusion does not involve any change in these faces. After all, they are exactly the same, without any kind of gradual changes made on a computer.
In this way, the transformation takes place in our mind, when we divert the focus to a specific object. That's because our eyes can see, or rather perceive, much more than what we arbitrarily focus on.
Therefore, the change is a result of focusing on another object, so the sharper what is in focus becomes, the more distorted the rest becomes. In fact, this happens more often than you might think, so the difference is that faces are more expressive.