Jorge Salvador CaffarenaOct 10, 2023
Kim Scheinberg

I have seen a lot of optical illusions. I have a reasonable layman's understanding of how they work

I have stared at this for five full minutes trying to get it NOT to flip every 10-15 seconds and I cannot keep it from doing so

[Also, I have no idea how to write alt text for this]

Oct 6, 2023 at 11:59pmWeb
Show threadBill HookerOct 7, 2023
@kims I can't make it stop. So weird!
Show threadRed Shirt DudeOct 7, 2023
@kims My attempt at an alt text description. You are looking at the side of a staircase. The background and foreground are a solid light blue colour. The steps alternate between black and white. At points, you see a staircase and if someone walked down it you would see them. At other times, you see the underside of a staircase behind a wall (so you *wouldn't* see the person).
Show threadLuhkerOct 10, 2023
@Red_Shirt_Dude
Weird. I did not get it for several minutes but once I read your comment and started to grasp how the illusion is supposed to look like, it started for me, too.
@kims
Show threadMy camera shoots fascistsOct 7, 2023
@kims
This is like an earworm for the eyes, except the difference is that I can actually look away from this and turn it off πŸ˜‚
Too much time with this could drive a person mad.
Show threadAaronOct 7, 2023
@kims I can usually control optical illusions like this once I see both versions ... this, though, switches when it wants to.

Next level. Incredible.
Show threadBrandon RohrerOct 7, 2023
@kims
I love this style of illusion! I have a half baked theory about how/why it works involving neural circuits, perception, and fatigue, but the bottom line is, it’s just friggin cool.
Show threadDougOct 7, 2023
@kims @sennoma @frog @Red_Shirt_Dude @Mikal @brohrer
Reminds me of the Escherian Stairwell at the Rochester Institute of Technology
Show threadMy camera shoots fascistsOct 7, 2023
@doug
WTAF is that cursed place?!😱
Show threadBon πŸ’™Oct 7, 2023
@kims This is exactly why I could never play Qbert! I'd be hopping along and the field would shift and I'd have to jump off the side.
Show threadCondalmo.Oct 7, 2023
@kims the stairs are blue
Show threadOne World One PeopleOct 7, 2023
@kims TWW: There are forces that shape this world and your place in the moment that you cannot perceive. *I would suspect that it changes every time you blink. Regards to all. OWOP
Show threadShirley EugestOct 7, 2023
@kims
Decide that the light is coming from the left.
Then decide the light is coming from the right.
That is how you can control the flipping.
Show threadHumble Fan of Atty. WooOct 7, 2023

@kims

it's just perspective. carry on

Show threadVincent DegoveOct 7, 2023
@BillMcGuire @kims the problem is not that the perspective changes, it's that it keeps changing regularly every 10s or so, even if you try to keep the same perspective
Show threadGreenSkyOverMe (Monika)Oct 7, 2023
@kims It doesn’t flip for me, the right top is elevated
Show threadparanoia Agent RosenflowerOct 7, 2023
@kims you can make it change quicker (try moving your eyes up and down a bit)
Show threadUnprecedented 2023Oct 9, 2023
@kims 😳
Show threadEric VitielloOct 10, 2023
@kims I can stop it from changing by moving my eye back and forth along the edge of one of the black stairs. A second or so after I stop though, the stairs flip. Neat.
Show threadvinceOct 16, 2023
@pixel @kims also stumbled onto this, tho it doesn't immediately hint at a mechanism of action to me. i wonder if you can initiate smooth pursuit by tracing that line, and this suppresses saccadic masking? (not an expert, but logically seems to fit with the sense that the image flips without moving your eyes)
Show threadPatrick Johanneson πŸš€ πŸ‡¨πŸ‡¦Oct 10, 2023
@kims weird, it's on a 4–5 second cycle for me, I wonder if that means anything
Show threadEloshaOct 10, 2023
@pjohanneson @kims Same, flips much quicker. Are our brains clocked higher, rather instable, used to multiple POVs, …?
Show threadPatrick Johanneson πŸš€ πŸ‡¨πŸ‡¦Oct 10, 2023
@elosha @kims Are you left-handed like me?
Show threadEloshaOct 10, 2023
@pjohanneson @kims No, right-handed. Maybe itβ€˜s the Wordpress affinity πŸ«£πŸ˜†
Show threadPatrick Johanneson πŸš€ πŸ‡¨πŸ‡¦Oct 10, 2023

@elosha @kims

add_filter( 'illusion_switch', function( $seconds ) { return 5; } );

Show threadEloshaOct 10, 2023
@kims @pjohanneson Please turn off all plugins and switch to a default theme – does the problem persist? 🀣
Show threadColin DevroeOct 10, 2023
@kims not working for me am i broke
Show threadSven (retired)Oct 10, 2023
@cdevroe Same. πŸ˜„
@kims
Show threadFlatbush Gardener 🌈Oct 10, 2023
@kims
BTW, this works without color.
Show threadStefanie SchulteOct 11, 2023
@xris @kims Apparently, the phenomenon is named Schroeder stairs (and in Wikipedia, it's a black-and-white drawing): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schroeder_stairs
Schroeder stairs - Wikipedia

Show threadFabio ValentiniOct 10, 2023
@kims interesting - I can flip the stairs "on demand" in my head by thinking that there's light coming from the left or from the right (to match the white part of the stairs)
Show threadStefanie SchulteOct 11, 2023
@decathorpe @kims As it appears, I can get them to flip back by focusing on the numbers in the bottom left corner (but not the other way around)
Show thread~andwilOct 10, 2023
@kims spoiler: it's a gif 
Show threadandaiversoilmare πŸ«‚Oct 10, 2023
@kims zero flip for me, I could make it flip just one time after 5 minutes of efforts. For me it’s a normal stair, from down right to up left
Show threadΔΈurthOct 10, 2023
@kims AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA(AAAAAAAAA!)!
Show threadFrauZeitlosOct 11, 2023
@kims to me it looks like a staircase out of folded paper in front of a blue sky, going down from left to right. No flipping.
Show threadBill, organizer of stuffOct 11, 2023
@kims What does it mean when they don't flip for someone? These steps go up from bottom right to upper left and don't change at all for me, either with or without color.
Show threadHeath BordersOct 13, 2023
@kims I stared at it for 10 seconds and I couldn't get it to flip. 😭