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March 13, 2006 by Vurdlak | Share  

Dragon IllusionThis is really a wonderful Illusion, originally invented by some English guy I think. This little dragon is made out of paper – simply print it, cut it out, stick it together, and stand it on a table or shelf. When you move around, the dragon’s head seems to follow you around the room (if you stare at it’s eyes). Have a look at the video below to see what I mean. The effect is frightening! You can print the dragon yourself by following thumbnails below (be shure to fold dragon’s head to outside, and not the presumed inside fold!) This is awesome!


How does it work? If we move around when viewing a solid object, our brain knows how the object we are looking at should behave. However the dragon gives us the wrong clues, because we mis-interpret what its shape is. We assume that the nose of the dragon is pointing out towards us, but in fact the dragon’s head is concave. Below is the dragon illusion blueprint, click on the image to view it full size, save it and cut it as the instructions say!

Dragon IllusionDragon IllusionDragon Illusion

Comments

83 Responses
  1. Anonymous says:

    I have seen a much larger dragon exactly like this at the Franklin Institute. It is a very cool illusion, and thanks for the picture so I can print it out. Right now I have one keeping watch right on top of my computer. AWESOME ILLUSION!!!

  2. Anonymous says:

    Wow! thats so strange! i feel freaked out just thinking about it! thats so cool! Dragon, Dragon, Dragon, then you move and it goes ‘Swoosh!’and next thing you know its staring at you like its alive!… thats so hmmm… i don’t know how to describe it!!!

  3. alex says:

    it moves!?!?!?!?!?

  4. ccoopa says:

    omg im so pissed i made it exactly as it said and it dosnt work !!! ARRRGGGHHH

  5. Anonymous says:

    mine doesn’t work, but i’m not very good at stuff like this so its probably my fault! its a very cute model anyway :)

  6. nikki says:

    OMG!!
    at first it didnt work but then when i stared at it for a few seconds it started workin
    freaky…

  7. Anonymous says:

    my one was rubbish, it didn’t look at me

  8. outis says:

    The illusion was created by Jerry Andrus for the 3rd “Gathering for Gardner”.

    It helps to illuminate the dragon’s head from below.

  9. Anonymous says:

    the important thing to remember when you construct it, in the instructions, the “shaded” side is the blank side of the Paper cut out.

  10. Anonymous says:

    you just hurt my brain

  11. paul says:

    this is how to make it

    you’re welcome

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kgE96qMcNiI

    you can get a print out in the description section of the video

  12. Anonymous says:

    My friend has one of those

  13. P-entertainment says:

    You just screwed up my mind, no I’m able to watch it with both eyes open :S Not sure what I do to my eyes to make it work but I think I might be unfocusing them like you do on stereograms..

  14. kajojone says:

    OMFG! that is one of the coolest things i have ever seen! keep em coming

  15. Anonymous says:

    Incrível, fantástico.
    Parabens.

  16. jaime says:

    I got a dragon to my high school and my classmates think that it’s cool. and my teachers! everyone that have seen the little dragon think the same. and me too. and the same about all these illusions. that’s an awesome website! (i’m an spanish fan and I’m sorry about possible mistakes, my english isn’t so good)

  17. Detective Kitty says:

    This is awesome. It seems so real. In my opinion the illusion does work with almost anything like photos or statues as long as the eyes are looking straight. But this illusion is cooler because it seems 3D.

  18. Anonymous says:

    Ummmm…its sad when an honor student with a 4.6 GPA can't complete this task…I CAN'T DO IT! and its frustrating me…grrrr >:[
    how do u do this??? I followed all the directions, its head is concave, it forms a pyramid…! *ahhhh* what did i do wrong?!

  19. Anonymous Twice says:

    Okay, honor student here to redeem herself! I was sitting there looking at my piece-o-crap dragon when i closed an eye! and it wiggled its little head! then i moved it and closed my eye other eye…but then eveything went black, so i opened one of my eyes again…lol.
    Thennnn, I was smiling at it like an idiot, and moving my head side to side. Suddenly the dragons head spun in circles and it said my name in a raspy voice. I opened both my eyes and realized it was a tiny bit after midnight. Wide-eyed and staring at it, I thought I was just tired, but then one of my cups fell from the counter and broke, and I was alone in the kitchen…pretty weird: do these dragons say anyone else’s name and cause the gas from ur stoves to turn on when ur alone??? I’d appreciate an answer
    P.S. These damn things are indestructible, ever try tearing it up, it’ll just give you paper cuts and if u do manage to tear it, you can find it good as new when you come back…or atleast thts what happens to me…

    To answer any of my questions refer to me as: ANONYMOUS TWICE

    Plz and Thank You!

  20. It works says:

    This is awesome, it works so well!

  21. lucy says:

    when i first made mine it didnt work then i just kept staring at it in different ways and found that if you shake the head a bit it kinda helps

  22. Eugenia says:

    Mine doesn’t work :(

  23. 2-RD says:

    awesome!

    our brains make so many assumptions..human perception is an illusion that makes an illusion that tricks itself into believing that it’s own illusions are real

    i’m using that as my own reason to oppose the “system”

  24. snitch says:

    I’m a bit frustrated on the folding part of the head. Can someone please show a video on how to properly fold the head? Coz believe me, I’ve been working on this for 2 hours now and I’m going nowhere on the head part.

    Please, reply ASAP!

  25. Lejla says:

    so cool! :))))))))))))))))))))))

  26. Cat says:

    I’m cutting it out right now :)

    Although reading some of the comments about it not working I am getting a bit discouraged.

    :(

  27. Libra In Red says:

    Very awesome. I had some trouble with the general construction, and it only seems to work at certain angles, but I found that if I placed it higher on my desk (corner type) the better it looked.

    I love this illusion. I might use it as an example for the kids in my daycare class.

  28. CRuth says:

    If you have trouble seeing it, step back and close one eye. Thny move to the left and right, It will jump right out at you. Relaxing your eyes is best to get the normal effect.

  29. The Mad Hatter says:

    I have one. It’s so cool! It does work!

  30. Suicidal 'Ling says:

    similar to a house illusions seen on coolopticalillusions.com, my old oi website

  31. Alexandra says:

    I am so making it! someone gave a link to the how to vid on youtube and in the discription it has even more colors it comes in so there is red blue green purple orange mint & black I am going to make them all and put them on the shelf above my computer it will be sooo hacking cool (yes I watch fred figglehorn aka Lucas Cruikshank but I am just a kid not a grown up so ya)

  32. Mephisto says:

    Do you need glue to make this?

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