Another One...

The nature of our visual system allows us to sometimes see "after-images" which appear once the original stimuli are removed. In the following demonstration, you will see that the colors in after-images are usually the opposite (complementary) colors of the original.

Instructions: Stare at the black spot in the center of the four colored squares for about 30 seconds. Then scroll down and move your gaze to the black spot in the uniform white area. Note the colors of the afterimages relative to the colors of the original stimuli. Did they appear different?

Colour Blind

Phew! I'm not colour blind! (You might have to click on these pics and enlarge them a bit to read the instruction text on the side).

It's Magic!

I couldn't resist posting a few optical colour tricks on my blog. It's amazing how the human eye works to interpret and balance colour and light!

Chromatic Adaptation

Have you ever entered a movie theater on a sunny afternoon? The room probably appeared completely dark but as your visual system adjusted to the reduced level of light you were able to see better after a few moments.

This "adaptation mechanism" allows our eyes to recover from an oversensitivity to a particular stimuli. "Chromatic adaptation" occurs when our eyes adjust to certain color stimuli. Follow the instructions below and see how the visual system responds to a color overload.

Instructions: Fixate upon the black spot in between the uniform cyan and yellow areas for about 30 seconds. Then scroll down and shift your gaze to the black spot in the 2nd image. Note that the image of the seaplane appears approximately uniform after this adaptation.