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What kind of brain do you have?

Any topic related to science can be discussed here.
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Noggin
Posts: 497
Joined: July 4th, 2007, 11:48 am

What kind of brain do you have?

#1 Post by Noggin » October 21st, 2007, 11:44 pm

You may have seen this before - I find it fascinating. I can only see the dancer going clockwise. Can anyone see different?

What kind of brain do you have?
It is the still and silent sea that drowns a man. -- Old Norse Proverb

Toohey
Posts: 44
Joined: October 10th, 2007, 9:44 am

#2 Post by Toohey » October 22nd, 2007, 9:10 am

I can see the dancer move clockwise so have a right-side dominant brain

squiffy
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Joined: September 26th, 2007, 12:22 pm

#3 Post by squiffy » October 22nd, 2007, 9:39 am

I can make her change direction! Do you want to know how?

Maria Mac
Site Admin
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Joined: July 3rd, 2007, 10:34 pm

#4 Post by Maria Mac » October 22nd, 2007, 10:49 am

Yes, please, Squiffy.


I see her going clockwise. I blinked and she went counter-clockwise but I can't seem to make her change back again.

squiffy
Posts: 42
Joined: September 26th, 2007, 12:22 pm

#5 Post by squiffy » October 22nd, 2007, 10:56 am

You have to watch the foot on the "ground".

If you think of it as pointing backwards when you see it pointing forwards ie when you don't see it at all because it is in line with her leg, you can change the direction.

I don't think I've explained that too well :redface:

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Alan C.
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#6 Post by Alan C. » October 22nd, 2007, 11:20 am

Try as I might, I can't see the dancer going anti clockwise, do you need 20-20 vision? I'm blind in one eye.
Abstinence Makes the Church Grow Fondlers.

Nick
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Joined: July 4th, 2007, 10:10 am

#7 Post by Nick » October 22nd, 2007, 12:08 pm

I'm not entirely convinced it is a fair test. If you look at the dancers foot, it appears to change size to imply that the foot is coming towards you on the right of the picture as you face it. Or is that just my brain?

However, if you look at the bottom of the page, keeping the picture in your peripheral vision, tell yourself it is going the other way, lo and behold it does!

Maria Mac
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#8 Post by Maria Mac » October 22nd, 2007, 1:13 pm

Alan C. wrote:Try as I might, I can't see the dancer going anti clockwise, do you need 20-20 vision? I'm blind in one eye.
I covered up each of my eyes in turn and found that by focussing on the foot and mentally trying to imagine it going in the opposite direction I could make it do so even with just one eye.

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Alan C.
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#9 Post by Alan C. » October 22nd, 2007, 3:06 pm

Maria wrote:
Alan C. wrote:Try as I might, I can't see the dancer going anti clockwise, do you need 20-20 vision? I'm blind in one eye.
I covered up each of my eyes in turn and found that by focussing on the foot and mentally trying to imagine it going in the opposite direction I could make it do so even with just one eye.
I was afraid somebody was going to say that, it must just be my tiny brain then :grin:
Abstinence Makes the Church Grow Fondlers.

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Oxfordrocks
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#10 Post by Oxfordrocks » October 22nd, 2007, 10:39 pm

I can't make it go Counter-clockwise at all.
Image

****EDIT****
Ah....I can now......If I look away from the screen (so the dancer is only in peripheral vision) it tends to work.
hello

Fia
Posts: 5480
Joined: July 6th, 2007, 8:29 pm

#11 Post by Fia » October 25th, 2007, 9:22 pm

Fascinating! I just showed this to my children (having initially only seen it clockwise) with the instruction to state direction and keep looking at it. A few seconds later: "ooh! it's changed direction". For us all at different times, even when we all watched together.

Analogous I think to the old woman/young woman drawings and the "magic eye" pictures.

Our brains are such wonderful things...

Nick
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Joined: July 4th, 2007, 10:10 am

#12 Post by Nick » October 25th, 2007, 9:28 pm

I've never managed to see anything in those 'magic eye' pictures. :sad: Any hints?





Edited for punctuation only. Sorry, but it just bothered me.

Fia
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Joined: July 6th, 2007, 8:29 pm

#13 Post by Fia » October 25th, 2007, 9:52 pm

After much frustration I discovered the only way I can see magic eye pictures is to focus on any point and defocus on the surroundings - as you do when you are trying to read something at less than your optimal focus range. If nothing happens, keep focussing on your target and very slowly move the picture away from you.

Will it work for you, Nick? Let us know...

Mike Rosoft
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Joined: October 31st, 2007, 1:28 pm

#14 Post by Mike Rosoft » October 31st, 2007, 9:36 pm

Cool trick. And it's not like the animation changes (as one poster claimed); I have been able to "change" her apparent direction of rotation several times in a row, almost on demand. (Indeed, the trick is to concentrate on the dancer's stationary leg.)

Anyway, the animation looks more "natural" to me when she seems to be rotating clockwise; this is also what the picture looked like when I first looked at it, before I figured out how to "change" it. And I see myself as more logical and analytical ("left-brain dominant"). Go figure.


Mike Rosoft

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Alan H
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#15 Post by Alan H » October 31st, 2007, 10:30 pm

Mike Rosoft wrote:(Indeed, the trick is to concentrate on the dancer's stationary leg.)
You may well concentrate on her leg, but each to his own...

Nick
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Joined: July 4th, 2007, 10:10 am

#16 Post by Nick » November 1st, 2007, 10:05 am

Hmmm. Further thoughts. When I look directly at the image it/she appears to be moving clock-wise. When I look away, the direction appears reversed. Is there any influence from the image itself. For example, the head is tilted. Are we subconsciously making a judgement about which way the head is likely to be tilted when performing this action? Likewise, the arms are different. Waddya think?

Zoe
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Joined: July 4th, 2007, 4:08 pm

#17 Post by Zoe » November 2nd, 2007, 12:16 pm

Sounds plausible, Nick.

As for Magic Eye, I tried for months to get into one that had been stuck up on the wall at home but failed. Then one day in a shop I saw a framed one with a sheet of glass in front of it and I managed it in an instant. I got a sheet of glass and held it up in front of the one at home and the same thing happened. I then got totally addicted and bought books full of them. In no time I learned to manage without the glass. When I went to other homes, I even found myself staring at people's patterned wallpaper and half expecting an image to appear.

Just for old times sake:

[img]http://www.bartlesville.lib.ok.us/blog/ ... 792630.jpg[/img]

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Alan H
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#18 Post by Alan H » November 2nd, 2007, 1:03 pm

Good picture of an elephant... :grin:

Nick
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#19 Post by Nick » November 2nd, 2007, 1:20 pm

what awful wallpaper........

Jem
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#20 Post by Jem » November 2nd, 2007, 1:53 pm

It's a bit fishy...

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