The Orbison illusion (or Orbison's illusion) is an
optical illusion first described by American psychologist
William Orbison
William Orbison (1912–1952) was an American psychologist. He is best known as the namesake of the Orbison illusion
The Orbison illusion (or Orbison's illusion) is an optical illusion first described by American psychologist William Orbison (191 ...
(1912–1952)
in 1939.
The illusion consists of a two dimensional figure, such as a
circle
A circle is a shape consisting of all points in a plane that are at a given distance from a given point, the centre. Equivalently, it is the curve traced out by a point that moves in a plane so that its distance from a given point is con ...
or
square
In Euclidean geometry, a square is a regular quadrilateral, which means that it has four equal sides and four equal angles (90- degree angles, π/2 radian angles, or right angles). It can also be defined as a rectangle with two equal-length a ...
, superimposed over a background of
radial lines or
concentric circles. The result is an optical illusion in which both the figure and the
rectangle which contains it appear distorted; in particular, squares appear slightly bulged, circles appear
elliptical, and the containing rectangle appears tilted.
References
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Optical illusions
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