Interactive Internet Hallucinations

Free and safe virtual hallucinogens for all!

This optical illusion takes advantage of the “persistence of vision”, a phenomenon of brain chemistry. As explained on the Youtube page of the second version of this illusion posted here bellow:

“Because chemical reactions are not instantaneous, the visual stimulation, resulting in a positive afterimage (i.e. your walls moving) remains in the brain for a certain amount of time. Normally, when something moves, we don’t notice the positive afterimage because this amount of time is usually only a small fraction of a second. You achieve greater persistence of vision in my experiment by staring at the graphic for an extended period of time.” It’s always interesting to know about the things that shape our perception!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Yyt92CpPY8

There are more videos of this type on the web, but be cautious when looking for them – some of them are tricks hiding unpleasant surprises…