Optical illusions (sometimes called visual illusions) are all different types of images perceived in a manner that differs from objective reality. What the human eye sees is interpreted by the brain in a way that contradicts physical measurement of the source image. There are many different kinds of optical illusions such as face illusions, animal ambiguities, multi-stable objects, word illusions, color illusions, line, or size visual illusions and the list seems to continue. The question many of us are asking is how does our brain see so many different shapes, movements, colors, pictures, or images within just one picture? And why is it so interesting to see who can see something compared to others that can not?

It's not your eyes. An illusion is proof that you don't always see what you think you do, or what you necessarily want to see-- it is all because of the way our brains and our entire visual system perceives and interprets different images. Visual illusions occur due to properties of the visual areas of the brain as they receive and process information. Interesting? I can honestly say I did my fair share of research now before looking at the answers bellow the images try and see the optical illusion, some are harder to figure out than others, and some I even struggle to see.

Now it's your turn.

Face illusion example

If you look where the young women's neckline is that is where the older women smile is...

Animal illusion example

Ask yourself what do you see? A duck or a rabbit, look again... the duck's beak is facing left however the rabbit's ears are the beak...

Multistable objects

Which way is the dancer spinning? Spinning dancer silhouette is a bistable illusion where you can see the ballerina move both clockwise and counterclockwise.

Word illusion

Hint: look between the "E" and "X"

You are probably looking at this and have already seen it before or are just as amazed as I was. Do you see the arrow? It stands for speed and precision.

Color illusion

Could it be the blue and black versus white and gold dress? I can honestly say I still only see the blue and black...so this one still bothers many people.

Line illusion

Are all the dice are perfect squares? The answer is yes, switching of black and white color is just tricking us into seeing bent lines although all the lines are straight.

Visual illusion

Both green lines have the same length. This Ponzo illusion uses the fact that human brain interprets the image with perspective, however, it's just a simple 2D image.

Photo illusion

Let's take down the London Eye and go for a ride on a bike.

Crazy and interesting all in one, it is impressive to sit next to someone and see who can figure out the images, words, photos, lines, or colors first.