Great response yesterday! I think my favourite caption was from Lakritze….”That’s it. I’m going to my mother and take the kids with me!”
So, a few things today. First, I am running a quick survey on happiness training. Participating only takes a few moments and would be much appreciated. The link is here.
Also, here is a lovely video of ten illusions in 2 minutes that I came across recently….enjoy…
The very first illusion in the video was originally created as a tribute to skeptic and puzzle expert Martin Gardner. Gardner died recently, but on the 21st October there will be tributes to the great man all around the world. You can check out the nearest one to you at this great site. For those of you in or near Edinburgh, I will be doing a little tribute just prior to the Skeptics in the Pub meeting.
Which is your favourite illusion in the video?
September 23, 2010 at 5:38 am |
That is pretty cool. I’ve seen some before but not that huge. Nice vid!
September 23, 2010 at 8:16 am |
I love the Robo-dragon best, of course.
And: ten points for me? Gee, thanks! I’ll spend them all on ice-cream and fudge. .)
September 23, 2010 at 8:32 am |
I put ‘a few months’ on the survey, as I read a while ago that the best way to get happy was to get fit. Now I’m fitter, but not noticeably happier (yet). Yep, the dragon does it for me too (couldn’t believe it wasn’t moving)
September 23, 2010 at 10:25 am |
About as satisfying as 10 sexual encounters in 2 minutes.
You know how good they could be, but all that rushing around left me feeling deeply unsatisfied.
September 23, 2010 at 11:42 am
Hahaha! So true.
September 23, 2010 at 1:05 pm |
I don’t get the one with the spaceship, about halfway through the video. What’s the illusion?
September 23, 2010 at 2:36 pm
It’s not all that impressive. I think the background is supposed to look as 3D as the ship, or the ship as 2D as the background. Either way they sort of blend together so it doesn’t look like the ship is out in front of a 2D backdrop. That kind of illusion doesn’t seem to work very well for me, there was one with a cube in somebody’s hand a while back that was similar and didn’t work for me at all.
September 23, 2010 at 2:34 pm |
I have the small version of the Martin Gardner dragon illusion sitting on my desk at work, and it doesn’t work at all, I cannot see the head move no matter what I do. The one in the video works for me though.
September 23, 2010 at 3:10 pm
In my experience, the dragon illusion only works properly when you eliminate depth perception. It works best in videos, or if you cover one eye, or if you stand far enough back that your eyes don’t have much parallax.
September 23, 2010 at 4:16 pm
Perfect for people like me with mono-vision!
September 23, 2010 at 5:42 pm
I’m working from home lately, but next time I go in I’ll try the covering one eye thin. I’ve tried getting some distance, but that didn’t work.
September 23, 2010 at 7:04 pm
Thinking about it a bit more, the illusion also works best with a diffuse light so that there are no shadows to give depth cues.
September 29, 2010 at 5:26 pm |
nice Vid ^, ^
November 6, 2010 at 7:47 pm |
I really enjoyed this video