Aihara Kenji’s Stereogram Illusion

Few posts ago I have promised one of our users I will post another stereogram illusion for him and like-minded. Unfortunately I forgot all about it! Yesterday evening, while watching TV (still in our old flat, but we chose a near-by option and moving tomorrow) it hit me – I have a promise to keep! So here it goes, I have found an interesting stereogram (or how some like to call it: a “magic eye” picture) created by Aihara Kenji. We already had some illusions from Aihara before. I specially liked his magic ropes and symbols of mystery… But let’s move on today’s post. You should be able to see a hidden secret inside this picture below. Since I never had luck with these, and since some of our visitors only have one functional eye (unfortunately, it’s true) I have also attached an animated solution below this image, inside the article. Enjoy!


43 Replies to “Aihara Kenji’s Stereogram Illusion”

  1. This isn’t a stereogram, though. Just a hidden silhouette or something, but you could definitely see this with only one functioning eye.

  2. this isn’t a stereogram, or at least not the regular “magic eye” kind.
    That kind of stereogram works by having the pattern repeat in narrow strips from left to right, with slight variations, and it’s those variations that make the illusion of 3D.(when one eye is looking at one strip, and the other eye is looking at a neighboring one, but they think that they are looking at the same object)
    But in this one, the pattern does not repeat at all. If it is a stereogram of any kind, I’m not sure how it would work, since stereograms in general are about presenting the two eyes with different but similar images.

  3. Uhh… I can do magic eyes instantly, always have had an uncanny ability to see them without trying. This is not a magic eye, perhaps you’ve cut some of the image off?

  4. First time I’ve ever left a comment – but I couldn’t resist. I agree that this is definitely not a stereogram – I can also see them very easily. Love your illusions though!

  5. Yeah, not a stereogram at all. easiest way to see stereograms is to look cross-eyedly in the picture, an it is clearly visible. this one is just hidden silhuouette

  6. This is not a stereogram. A stereogram works by focusing your eyes on different parts of the screen.

    You dont need both eyes to do this, its just a 2D picture of a boy that has been pasted on top of a noisey background.

    It was very tricky to see, though. I couldnt have guessed what it was without the moving part below.

  7. WOW! I thought at first I could see a humming bird, then I thought I could maybe see a little fish, then I gave up. Boy! Was I far off! LOL :<)

  8. Magic Eye illusions need to be at least as wide as the distance between both eyes.
    Maybe I have my video settings too high so i couldn’t see it (unless it’s a faint silhouette). Usually pretty good at them!

    The colours are nice though.

  9. Like Vurdlak, I have never been able to see these things – try as hard as I can. So the moving image was a great help! But everytime it moved back to the start, the image would fade and I could not continue to see it despite having seen the edges come to rest.

    Then what disapointment to see all the comments to say this is not a stereogram! But one thing I had never known was that these pictures that I cannot see are actually a series of repeated images with slight differences. Not that knowing this will help me see them, but maybe….

    Oh well, if this is my only “disability”, I will count myself blessed.

  10. yeah i looked at this one for about 5 minutes then was finally about to give up but i tilted my screen back a tini bit and saw it instantly, may that would for other people too.

  11. Due to an error with my eyes (missing stereopsis and micro squint) I am unable to see stereograms but I can deffinately see this one. Still, nice illusion and the site never fails to amaze me (been looking now for around 6 months).

  12. If you look at a real “magic eye” picture, you’ll notice that if you take any horizontal line, you’ll keep seeing the same dots or pictures (or whatever the image is made up of) repeating every inch or so.

    If you look cross-eyed until the two adjacent patterns “overlap” in your vision, you can sometimes fool the mind into thinking it’s a 3D image.

    Now, crosseyed is easy for me, but the best “magic eye” pictures are those where you have to look, ehhh… wide-eyed, for lack of a better word.
    Meaning you need to look at the picture as if you’re watching something very distant. Although a wee bit trickier to perform (I can’t do it as controlled as I can do crosseyed) the end result is far more pleasing, because the picture also seems to have grown larger, while looking crosseyed makes it look smaller.

    In this picture however, there is no repeating pattern at all. So don’t even try looking for a “magic eye” 3D-effect, there isn’t one.

    Incidentally, I tried teaching my neighbour how to see “magic eye” pictures, back when they were hot, and his failure to accomplish any success infuriated me. It worked with all other people I had explained it to!
    Then, day three, he asks me: “Can it be that I can’t see it because I’m blind in my left eye?”.

    I nearly strangled him…

  13. It’s a friday-the-13th-stereogram ;-) … no way to catch it.
    But if you never had luck with these – how could you know…
    thank you for keeping this site so entertaining – l love it!!

  14. Yeah, I have to agree this is NOT a magic-eye stereogram. I am scarily good at these, and can find nothing in this one. And like pp’s said, there is normally a repeating pattern, which is what your eyes ‘lock onto’ in order to re-focus at the correct ‘distance’. The subtle variations in the pattern create the 3d effect.

  15. man..i’ve seen many of these…and is till don’t know what to do to see the image…
    do you have to cross your eyes or go near the monitor or what?????
    o.O

  16. Usually I have succes with these, but this time I really can’t sea it. Quite strange that there is no repeating pattorn inside the picture, like there usually is in stereograms.

  17. yes i would agree with the rest of you, a sterogram is STEREO, two images shown at different perspectives. (each eyeball)

    when you look at a true sterogram you get a psuedo-3d image.

    I would put this more into a comaflague illusion or hidden illusion.

    but not a stero.

  18. Nice comment Ananymous18! I am also really good at seeing stereograms, and I am 100% sure this isn’t one.
    BTW, I CAN see ‘wide-eyed’, and controll it! Since I was seven or something, I guess… It’s not hard, if you want to learn (I can’t relly explain it, but I’ll try): If you look at something that is behind something else, but not fully, it’s as if you can see through it. Also if you look at something far away, you are gonna see things up close ‘double’. Once you know how to ‘steer’ your eyes into such a position you see things double, you can controll it and then you can enjoy stereograms even more!
    Because, as Ananymous18 said, things will look larger. I have no idea why this is, it just is.
    But if you don’t manage to do this, it’s no problem of course, you can always try to see them cross-eyed, or with the finger-nose movement.

    Good luck with practising seeing ‘wide-eyed’, if you even understanded my explaination.

    P.S. sorry if my English is not completely correct

  19. Agree, not a “magic-eye” image.
    I also can instantly do the ‘wide-eyed’ type (easier thant he ‘cross-eyed’ ones actually).
    It’s a cool talent to have when comparing two things. At work if i need to find a missing component on a circuit board, I’ll grab one i know is good and do a ‘magic-eye’ with them to compare (the missing component ‘pops’ out at you and instantly becomes easy to point out). Works great on those image games where you have to compare two images and find the differences.

    Mike S.

  20. I’ve practiced looking at stereograms for along time, and can get them to “pop” out right away. I don’t know what to call this, but it’s not a stereogram.

  21. yer, i don’t lyk this one (no offence) but it’s really obvious and its not even a sterogram (optical illution)

  22. Yeah, I’m really, really good at these, and I can’t see this in ‘3D’ at all. I can make out a faint shape of a boy without the focusing trick, but nothing else. Stereogram FAIL.

  23. IF is a stereogram, is the most difficult of all. I can see stereograms with just a quick glance instantly, but this in my opinion is not a stereogram.

  24. I can see it. The running person. Was actually surprised how easy it was, given I usually suck at these and give up easily. Just one thing – The front leg is out, sole showing. Someone mentioned that when the animated figure moved back into place, the edges were seamless. For me, the leg was out again, lol.

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