Defying Gravity
These are my favorite illusions. From one angle everything looks perfectly normally until you see the balls rolling uphill. When you change the angle of the camera you see that the ramps are not as they appeared. They are actually slanting downhill instead of uphill. It's all about the perspective of course.
All of the work for the illusion is performed in a 3D program. The process to create these illusions is long and difficult. I basically create the design the way it should appear and then create a duplicate of the design that will be the actual physical copy. I manipulate the duplicate in the 3D program so that the ramps ultimately slant down but still match the original layer of the ramps that are aiming up.
Once I've created the ramps that slant down, I flatten the shapes, print them out, cut, fold and tape. The camera must be set up in the same position that the camera in the 3D program was set to. The objects that you can create with this technique are unlimited.
What happens in our brain when we view an optical illusion?
The information gathered by the eye is processed in the brain to create an idea or image that does not match with a physical measurement of the stimulus source.
Other Videos That May Interest You:
Annie Murphy Paul: What We Learn Before We're Born
Pop quiz: When does learning begin? Answer: Before we are born. Science writer Annie Murphy Paul talks through new research that shows how much we learn in the womb -- from the lilt of our native language to our soon-to-be-favorite foods.
Van Gogh's Starry Night Comes Alive
A try to visualize the flow of the famous painting "Starry Night" of Vincent Van Gogh. The user can interact with the animation. Also, the sound responds to the flow.
iO Tillett Wright: Fifty Shades of Gay
Photographer iO Tillett Wright grew up between genders and sexualities. She's shot 2,000 people who consider themselves somewhere on the LBGTQ spectrum and asked many: can they assign a percentage to how gay or straight they are?
Brain Plasticity and Transcendental Meditation with Dr. Fred Travis
What happens to the brain when someone practices the Transcendental Meditation® technique? All experiences changes the brain and nothing changes the brain like transcending.
Lucianne Walkowicz: Look Up For a Change
Lucianne Walkowicz explains the importance of preserving our dark night sky from the perils of light pollution and other lesser-known factors.