June 24, 2007 by Vurdlak with 443 Comments
This animation was on my laptop for quite some time. I had it for almost a year. Today anonymous user submitted me this gif version, and when I opened it, only then I realized how great this illusion actually is. If you look at the spinning girl’s silhouette below, you will think it is spinning clockwise, probably. When you check her shadow below, momentarily the spinning direction changes in your mind, and now the girl is spinning counter-clockwise. It can be quite hard at the beginning to notice switch of the spinning direction, but eventually you’ll manage. I posted more simple illusion of this kind while ago, and you can see it here. Now, be honest – how long did it take you to see it spin in both directions? Not as easy as the hidden tiger, ayeh? I lost the link to the original artist, but best I could come up with is the place I found it on.
(72 votes)
do this: you put your hand on her head, shell turn one way, you put your hand on her feet,shell turn the other way. i kept on doing that and i would not let her turn fully around LOL!!! =)
This is a very interesting Animation.
It is the best which makes us reply :D.
I found a method upon changing the direction
of the spin, by looking at the Leg when it seems like going behind or shorter than the one just having a shadow, try think it spins in opposite direction, and the image you see will actually turn other direction as it spins.
Cool :D
No need to do silly techniques… All you have to do is focus on her hands… Just follow them with your eyes, after few moments… magic will happen.
watch the reflected foot and change the direction from there
I’ve been watching it for 15 mins now, it’s only spinning clockwise…
Holy crap why did the artist feel the need to include a nipple. HAAHHAHAHHAHA!!
(also my brain keeps switching the direction but i seem to have no control over it.)
I cant see it
well i looked at her left leg for 10 seconds and suddenly she started spinning the otherway and she still does -.- when i look at herleft hand she ( in moments ) look like she’s going the other way again
i can just control it and make her sweep the floor . hahaha!!
thats totally freaky! i tried looking at her feet but it didnt work for me so i started reading the text again and it worked, weirdness
well for those who cant see it change directions, my condolences.
for the rest, i found a way to see her not actually revolve but pivot back and forth.
at first glance she appears to be turning clockwise, when her raised leg reaches towards me i look at the shadow of her foot, it then starts back the other direction.
I then read the words above the image and my brain descrambles and shes going clockwise again. rinse and repeat
does this make any sense to anyone?
ya it does
Scroll so you can not see the shadow below , now watch the upper thighs , where the legs cross in front of one another. The image is ACTUALLY switching direction. The extended leg passes in front of the anchored one consistantly , but then the image will “wobble” a bit quickly and the extend leg will pass behind the anchored leg , very briefly , then it will wobble again and revert to the original motion.
I discovered another trick to this, it appears that the woman’s rotation depends on which hemisphere of the brain is being used. Try thinking math equations and she’ll start rotating counter-clockwise, then switch your thoughts to envisioning a stroke of paint or similar and she’ll switch to clockwise.
all you have to do is squint so all you see is her legs, the imagine the foot is going form either left to right or right to left and it will switch directions.
first i saw her only spinning clockwise and
then finally she turned but now i can’t get her back clockwise xd
ITS PISSING ME OFF I CANT SEE IT!
Lol, if you stare at the foot long enough, it just goes back and forth.
I can only see her rotating counter clockwise >:(
Yes! I can now make her change directions! For a while she would be going anti-clockwise for a long time and then suddenly change to clockwise and then after a while anti clockwise again.
This is an amazing illusion. I first thought, that the gif itself periodically changes the direction.
I found a weird method for controlling the way she spins. Nod your head forward and down, but so that you can still see the image. If you want the dancer to spin clockwise, spin your head gently clockwise. And if counter-clockwise, then spin your head gently to that direction.
And I now kind of understand why I definitely can see that dancer tilting her head right when spinning clockwise and left when spinning counter-clockwise. This gif fools you by getting you think that you see this dancer from front, when you would think it is her back if she would spin to other direction.
i’m just starring at her boobs
You could do some brain gym .
Look to the side of your eyes and thats the way she will turn
A test of your brain and it’s perfectness.
If your brain is broken and can’t perceive perspective very well it switches direction.
If you’re perfect like me and it goes clockwise the way it’s animated then you’re all good.
I’m so proud! I actually can make it turn either ways. Takes me a while, but it happens! It always happens at the same point too, which is odd to me. :) Great illusion.
OKAY. SO WE’RE SURE ITS NOT A TRICK AND THE MAKER OF THE GIF RANDOMLY MAKES IT TURN DIRERCTION??
it’s impossible…
If clockwise, then you use more of the right side of the brain and vice versa.
If you can switch between seeing her turn either way at will without shifting your gaze, your IQ is above 160 … which is almost at genius level!
This was devised at Yale University for a 5 year study on the human brain and its functions.
Only 14% of the US population can see her move both ways. I am not in US… :-) And I am also MENSA member…
I saw both direction right away – first counterclockwise.
Tobs has the right idea (no control over it). I decided tio test this to see if it only spun one way. If you open it in photoshop (any version) and go from slide to slide, you’ll notice that it does switch at about the 15/20th slide. This has been proven to not be an optical illusion, just your brain thinking it is an illusion is enough to make it seem like one. It is just a cleverly-organized set of pictures.
Soooooo, how long did it take all of you to see it both ways. I counted the seconds, and it only took me five! Go meeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!
couple of seconds. i’ve seen this before, never worked like that before… ?__?
Oh hey, it works. If you picture doing some artwork it’ll go counter-clockwise, if you do some math equations it’ll go clockwise.
the both ways at d same time.
Ah, i can make it switch. its not that hard after you see it on facebook a million times and you eventually get it :)
she has been spinning counter clockwise for me from when I first looked at it and I can’t see it the opposite direction. I have stared at it for 10 minutes and took all of the advice here, but nothing, still appears to be spinning counter clockwise.
oh god..this girl n the cat illusion gave me the creeps!!it keeps on changing..creeeepyyy
This was NOT proven to be fake. It took me a few minutes, but it finally did work and my eyes can switch her back and forth now.
No the gif is not switching in a specific time, it’s a clean loop. open it in photoshop and try stopping in a frame where there’s no space between the legs. since it’s a silhouette you can perceive it as facing you or against you. if you see it as frontal then the next frames will make it appear to rotate clockwise, and vice versa.
You seem right. The instant I try to recall the quadratic equation, she spines clockwise. When I think of the beautiful imagery provoked by Gibran’s words in The Prophet, she spins counter-clockwise. Fascinating. Beyond that, simply by setting my expectations, I can interpret as spinning in either direction, or facing anteriorly and pivoting left and right. Having difficulty envisioning facing posteriorly and pivoting left and right but seems like it should be possible.
wow thats awesome!!!!! i love that!! now i need to figure out the cat 1…
The trick is that EACH FRAME is an optical illusion — because there is no depth(it’s a silhouette a duh) each and every single frame can be seen as going in either direction. it’s crazy.
in other words, it’s not fake! amazing isn’t it? the guy who created it is a genius. look up “spinning dancer” on wikipedia. :D
WHEN I GOT IT..IT MADE ME SMILE..ITS SO AMAZING! she really change directions!
This is incredible when it’s spinning clockwise you see her left foot down and when it’s spinning counter-clockwise her right foot it’s down.