Hering illusion
Encyclopedia
The Hering illusion is a one of the geometrical-optical illusions
and was discovered by the German physiologist Ewald Hering
in 1861 . Two straight and parallel lines look as if they were bowed outwards. The distortion is produced by the radiating pattern and was ascribed by Hering to an overestimation of the angle made at the points of intersection. It is interesting that what yields is the straightness of the parallel lines and not of the radiating lines, implying that there is a hierarchical ordering among components of such illusion .
Proponents of a perceptual interpretation
explain that such a pattern simulates a perspective design and creates an impression of depth. The Orbison illusion
is one of its variants, while the Wundt illusion
produces a similar, but inverted effect.
The Hering illusion as depicted here looks like bike spokes around a central point, with vertical lines on either side of this central "vanishing point." One is tricked into thinking one is moving forward. Since we aren't actually moving and the figure is static, we misperceive the straight lines as curved.
Geometrical-optical illusions
Geometrical-optical illusions are visual illusions, also optical illusions, in which the geometrical properties of what is seen differ from those of the corresponding objects in the visual field.-Geometrical properties:...
and was discovered by the German physiologist Ewald Hering
Ewald Hering
Karl Ewald Konstantin Hering was a German physiologist who did much research into color vision and spatial perception...
in 1861 . Two straight and parallel lines look as if they were bowed outwards. The distortion is produced by the radiating pattern and was ascribed by Hering to an overestimation of the angle made at the points of intersection. It is interesting that what yields is the straightness of the parallel lines and not of the radiating lines, implying that there is a hierarchical ordering among components of such illusion .
Proponents of a perceptual interpretation
explain that such a pattern simulates a perspective design and creates an impression of depth. The Orbison illusion
Orbison illusion
The Orbison illusion is an optical illusion that was first described by the psychologist William Orbison in 1939. The bounding rectangle and inner square both appear distorted in the presence of the radiating lines. The background gives us the impression there is some sort of perspective. As a...
is one of its variants, while the Wundt illusion
Wundt illusion
The Wundt illusion is an optical illusion that was first described by the German psychologist Wilhelm Wundt in the 19th century. The two red vertical lines are both straight, but they may look as if they are bowed inwards to some observers. The distortion is induced by the crooked lines on the...
produces a similar, but inverted effect.
The Hering illusion as depicted here looks like bike spokes around a central point, with vertical lines on either side of this central "vanishing point." One is tricked into thinking one is moving forward. Since we aren't actually moving and the figure is static, we misperceive the straight lines as curved.