An optical illusion that perfectly demonstrated the power of focus has been shared on Reddit, and people are entranced by the effect. Consisting of a grid made up of green lines, the illusion looks completely wild at first glance, with lines bending and spouting off in all directions. And that illusion persists whilst staring at the image – but it's only the lines in your peripheral vision that are out of control. The lines you manage to focus on are surprisingly straight, which gives the slow realisation that the whole grid is actually made up of straight lines.
I wouldn't recommend staring at it too closely though – it really does give you a headache, and some sort of weird motion sickness. Overall, did not enjoy. Try these optical illusions instead. See the Reddit thread below and read on for an explanation.
All the green lines are perfectly straight from r/opticalillusions
People are seriously impressed with this illusion. "Oh wow this one's really cool. The lines go crazy in all sorts of directions when I look away from them but immediately straighten out when I focus on them," one enthusiast says. Another says: "This ones wild, the bits in my peripheral vision almost turn into brambles, pointing in different directions and intertwining. Feel like I've seen this 100 times before but never as intense as this version."
The effect happens because of the grey and white background behind the grid. The texture of the background confuses your brain and makes it think the lines are bending where they are actually straight. They disrupt the sense your brain tries to make of what it sees, filling in blanks and giving the illusion of wild lines.
For more illusions that give a visceral reaction, see this nausea-inducing circle illusion.
