An optical illusion has been shared on Reddit that is so needlessly creepy it made me shiver. The illusion itself is mind-boggling and makes you want to watch twice, but it's the presentation of it that is so unnerving – with a solitary eye staring at you and a voiceover that belongs with Halloween.
I won't explain anymore about the illusion before you've seen it because it's the art of surprise that makes this one feel the most surprising. Titled 'Black Magic', it really does feel like that... but I'll let you find out for yourself below. It's a version of a classic optical illusion, and I think it's a good one.
this is black magic from r/opticalillusions
So did it work for you? Pretty cool, right?
Comments are equally creeped out and amazed at the effectiveness of the illusion.
"Why was the voice so creepy? I was anticipating a jump scare 😭," one Redditor said.
"Watching it a second time and expecting the shift, it was even cooler. It swapped and I saw it in color, then saw the color fade to black and white," said another.
Who knew your brain could invent colour where there isn't any?
So, how does it work? One helpful comment explains all – and I couldn't put it better:
"Fun! How it works-
Tldr: first image depletes chemical signals in your eye, so you see the exact opposite colors on the second image
Your eye uses photoreceptors to create an image for the brain, by converting the light that lands on your retina (back of the eye) into chemical signals to represent color and bright/dark.
When you stare at an image without moving your eyes, that image becomes kind of "burned in" temporarily to your retina, because the chemicals to send that specific image get depleted in the exact pattern of that image. In this example, the orange in the sky and water depletes whatever chemicals your photoreceptors use to send that orange to your brain wherever orange is in the image.
Then when you change to a black and white image, your photoreceptors only have the exact opposite chemicals left from what they need, so for a short time you'll see the exact opposite color of the primer image. In this example, the dark oranges turn to light tropical water blue and the light oranges turn to deep dark sky blue. Another easy way to see this is the clouds turn from black in the first image to white in the second.
An over simplified example would be like an ice cream machine that gives your either chocolate or vanilla. If everyone gets chocolate for a while, then after you can only get vanilla until someone replenishes the chocolate."
For more fun illusions, see this captivating Taylor Swift one. Or if you're more into spinning, check out this ballerina – but don't try it in public.
