onigame ([info]onigame) wrote,
@ 2007-10-14 13:21:00
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Spinning Girl Illusion
This image is making the rounds:



Is the girl spinning clockwise or counterclockwise? The article attached to the image says it has to do with whether you're a left-brain or right-brain thinker, which I think is bogus science. It's just an interesting optical illusion.

Most people have trouble seeing her going in the other direction than what they initially
see, so I've hacked the image to help people see the other way. You can see the hack at this URL:

http://ofb.net/~whuang/imgs/spin/

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[info]cuthalion
2007-10-14 08:35 pm UTC (link)
wow, thanks. I was totally unable to see it going counter clockwise.

I like the other way better, since she's not tipping over.

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[info]owens888
2007-10-14 09:46 pm UTC (link)
I have success with looking only at her bottom foot until it starts spinning the other way and then looking up. I can pretty much get it to reverse at will. I can even get her going the "wrong" way in your hacked images.

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[info]confuseme
2007-10-16 12:29 am UTC (link)
Thanks for pointing this out, this works really well for me.

Usually I can get these really easily by imagining something I see moving away from me to be getting closer instead. The reason I like this illusion is that it's so much harder than any of the ones I've seen before -- but just the foot in the reflection is pretty easy. I wonder why that is!

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[info]rigelkitty
2007-10-14 11:59 pm UTC (link)
Thanks, I'd never been able to see the illusion in that one. Now I don't want to look at it anymore because it makes my brain hurt.

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[info]tablesaw
2007-10-15 05:12 am UTC (link)
I find that my own interprestation of the spinning can switch while I'm not looking at it. But because clockwise and countercolockwise are more difficult to distinguish between, say, vases and faces, the switch is often not noticed.

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[info]benevg
2007-10-15 09:13 am UTC (link)
thanks. i am obviously one of those "most people". even with your hack, i look at her and wonder "how can people ever see this rotating the other way?", then 5 seconds later i look at it rotating the other way and think the very same thing. :)

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[info]aarondf
2007-10-15 04:04 pm UTC (link)
I could only see her going clockwise until a friend suggested something which was quite effective to get her to go the other way. Turn away from the monitor and then bend over so looking at the monitor upside-down. This worked for me to get the other direction while the focusing on various positions in the image scheme did not.

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fascinating.
[info]hinj
2007-10-16 02:55 am UTC (link)
Clearly counterclockwise. Then I blinked, it was going the other way.

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A technique to see both ways
(Anonymous)
2007-10-16 04:18 am UTC (link)
I was able to see her rotate both ways. Upon initial sight, i saw her rotate clockwise. then i started reading, and i saw her rotate counterclockwise.

If you see her with the top of your eyeball and then look at her directly, you see her rotate one way. then you see her with the bottom of the eyeball, and you see her rotate the other way.

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Re: A technique to see both ways
(Anonymous)
2008-03-08 07:16 pm UTC (link)
damn your right, i made her sway like the other guy was talkingabout if youswitch between looking at her with top or bottem of eye


good obervation

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[info]epicureanangel
2007-10-25 02:17 am UTC (link)
Thank you so much for hacking that gif. I have been completely unable to see her going the other way and it was driving me nuts.

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swaying
(Anonymous)
2008-03-08 07:14 pm UTC (link)
In the hacked image you can easily make all 3 images of thedancer sin the same way, or spin at all different times

at one point the dancer wasn't even spining, she was swaying back and forth because she was switching between clockwise and counterclowckwise quickly. It all has to do with how you think and perceive the image

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Re: swaying
(Anonymous)
2008-03-18 02:41 pm UTC (link)
It gives the illusion of a 3 dimensional object when it's only 2 because it's all a single shade.

So the leg could be in front or in back at any time you can't really tell =P.

Adding shading would kill the illusion.

Take any 3 dimensional computer generated object, remove the shading and rotate it and it should create the same illusion. WEEEE!!

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Re: swaying
(Anonymous)
2008-03-18 03:18 pm UTC (link)
sorry.. they've also eliminated proportion.

This wouldn't work with just any 3d drawing.

Basically they're taking away all depth perception so you can't identify if she's facing towards you or away from you.

Very cool and clever lol.

I may rip this gif apart and add some shading to see if I can make cheat animations for the 4 possible rotations. And also as proof to make sure I'm not crazy =P.

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Re: swaying
(Anonymous)
2008-03-18 04:59 pm UTC (link)
LOL.. I just made this as a proof of concept.. it's really cool.. It just adds some sense of depth to it to identify which direction she's facing. I could technically make her rotate either direction or back and forth frontways or back and forth backwards.. I bet with some good shading I could make slices of her body rotate in different directions or just her top half rotate opposite from her bottom, etc etc...

http://i257.photobucket.com/albums/hh207/juggler9/AlwaysForward.gif

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Re: swaying
(Anonymous)
2008-03-18 06:10 pm UTC (link)
Yea, helps to read.. that web-site above does a way better with the shading than my 20 minute lunch time conclusion and hack LOL.

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The "right" way?
(Anonymous)
2008-11-02 03:23 am UTC (link)
I am convinced that although we can all see it both ways, there technically is only one "RIGHT" way, and that it is the mistake of the original creator of the image. The answer is in the reflection of the lifted foot:

You can only see the reflection of the lifted foot for HALF the cycle, when the reflection has moved onto the screen. In order for the reflection to have moved onto the screen, its source (the raised leg), must have gotten FARTHER AWAY from the viewer at this point. Hence, top-down, the dancer is only spinning counter-clockwise. If the original creator wanted it to be ambiguous, they should have moved the dancer up the screen and shown the shadow during the entire cycle.

Counter-argument: when the raised foot moves away from the viewer, the shadow was simply omitted because the foot is higher from the floor at this point. Thoughts?

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how to switch
(Anonymous)
2009-01-11 02:41 am UTC (link)
If you just zoom in on the foot, without the body, you can see how it is just moving back and forth ambiguously. Your mind supplies the rotation, either way. Move your finger back and forth and you can do the same thing. The finger must also be dark or you will see details that give away its motion. The back and forth motion, in silhouette looks identical to rotation, either clock wise or counter. I found that by putting my index finger right in front of the rotating girl, I can easily make the picture rotate either way. Rotate my finger clockwise,(you must mostly focus on the rotation of your finger with the girl in the background) and she obeys. Counter clockwise, and she instantly obeys. This is the first time a woman has obeyed me.

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