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The checker shadow illusion is an
The image depicts a
A high-resolution remake of the illusion
Real-life simulation
Explanation of the effect
– search for ‘simultaneous brightness contrast’
An interactive presentation of the effect
An interactive click-and-drag demonstration of the effect
{{Optical illusions Optical illusions
The checker shadow illusion is an optical illusion
In visual perception, an optical illusion (also called a visual illusion) is an illusion caused by the visual system and characterized by a visual perception, percept that arguably appears to differ from reality. Illusions come in a wide varie ...
published by Edward H. Adelson, professor of vision science
Vision science is the scientific study of visual perception. Researchers in vision science can be called vision scientists, especially if their research spans some of the science's many disciplines.
Vision science encompasses all studies of vision ...
at MIT
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Established in 1861, MIT has played a significant role in the development of many areas of modern technology and sc ...
, in 1995.
Description
The image depicts a checkerboard
A checkerboard (American English) or chequerboard (British English) is a game board of check (pattern), checkered pattern on which checkers (also known as English draughts) is played. Most commonly, it consists of 64 squares (8×8) of alternating ...
with light and dark squares, partly shadowed by another object. The optical illusion is that the area labeled A appears to be a darker color
Color (or colour in English in the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth English; American and British English spelling differences#-our, -or, see spelling differences) is the visual perception based on the electromagnetic spectrum. Though co ...
than the area labeled B. However, within the context of the two-dimensional image, they are of identical brightness, i.e., they would be printed with identical mixtures of ink, or displayed on a screen with pixels of identical color.
Related illusions
While being one of the most well-known contrast illusions, there are similar effects which cause two regions of identical color to appear differently depending on context: * The Cornsweet illusion creates a boundary between two identically-shaded regions with a discontinuous gradient, resulting in the opposing sides appearing to be different. * The Chubb illusion evokes this effect by surrounding zones with others of different, distinct shades, with the relative brightness or darkness of the surrounded area appearing different. * An illusion closely related to the checker shadow illusion, which also relies on using implied visual shadows to seemingly darken a brighter region to the same color as a well-lit dark region, involves two squares placed at an angle, with the darker square being lit and the lighter square at an angle which receives poor light.See also
*Psychophysics
Psychophysics is the field of psychology which quantitatively investigates the relationship between physical stimulus (physiology), stimuli and the sensation (psychology), sensations and perceptions they produce. Psychophysics has been described ...
* Color constancy
Color constancy is an example of subjective constancy and a feature of the human color perception system which ensures that the perceived color of objects remains relatively constant under varying illumination conditions. A green apple ...
* The dress
References
External links
A high-resolution remake of the illusion
Real-life simulation
Explanation of the effect
– search for ‘simultaneous brightness contrast’
An interactive presentation of the effect
An interactive click-and-drag demonstration of the effect
{{Optical illusions Optical illusions