Infinity Stereogram Illusion

Riju Dasgupta noticed: “Dear Vurdlak, I noticed that your “Stereograms” section didn’t have many entries, and the ones there are just pictures. Well I went surfing to find you one, and I picked one of the better ones. They are also called Magic Eye, as you’ve posted before. I’m sure I don’t need to explain how to view them. Best of luck, and I hope this site becomes the premier O.I. site in the world!”

I got two comments for you Riju, first and most important one, Mighty Optical Illusions already is biggest, most visited optical illusion database on the internet :) Concerning the stereograms, I love them too, but never manage to see the hidden meaning. This is why almost all illusions inside “sterograms category” are 3D pictures, and not true stereograms. I somehow never had luck viewing them. I read somewhere, that if you are paranoid or something, you have trouble viewing them. Guess I’m one of those sickos! Anyone found hidden meaning in this Infinity Magic Eye? Don’t forget to open the image in full size! Credit goes to Gary W. Priester for creating this.

51 Replies to “Infinity Stereogram Illusion”

  1. I love Stereograms. It used to be hard to see them but once you get you eyes to relax and see them the right way it is very cool! I’d like to see a lot more of these. ps. I rrrreally enjoy your site and check in every day!~~Thanks!

  2. Wow, it’s totally 3d, when you move your head you can view it from diffrent angles. Really cool.

    Took me a while to see it though and I started to feel a bit motionsick after looking at it too long. @_@

  3. I can’t see these either and a few years ago I was getting my eyes checked right after a friend had bought one of these books for her kid. I decided to ask the Dr. why.

    From what I remember him telling me it’s because you have problems with 3D preception which there are two causes for this: lazy eye (one eye works more than the other), which I have, or you have a wandering/crossed eye.

  4. Anonymous 1, that stereogram Tetris link has to be the coolest link yet. It’s on my list of “must visits”!

  5. If you are like me and have a squint or lazy eye you will not be able to see the hidden pictures within these things. They apparently work on the basis that you eyes are working in unison and see the picture in “totality”. People with lazy eyes etc actually see two images (rather than one) which is then intepreted by the brain to make up the one image. As you are not viewing the image in the way it was intended, the effect does not work…. sorry.

  6. Can anybody tell me why I see these stereograms inverted? As in… what should be jumping out at me in the 3d image actually bends away creating depth… Like this infinity symbol for example… the cylindric body of the sideways 8 appears as a trench to me… with the 2 circles on the inside stand up like plateaus… Am I a stereogram mutant freak or what?

  7. If you are seeing the image inverted, that is because you are crossing your eyes, effectively focusing on a point between you and the picture. To see these images properly, you must focus on a point behind the picture — the same distance behind it as you are in front of it, to be exact.

    The best way to do this is to look at a dark part of your monitor and focus on your own reflection on the surface (this is twice the distance that you are from the monitor). Once you are focused, just slide your eyes over to the image. Works every time!

  8. Here’s a cheat for seeing this (it probably works with the other stereograms): Open the file in Photoshop. Duplicate the layer and see the opacity on the new layer at 50%. Slowly slide it over until the pattern emerges, or until whatever you’re told to line up is lined up (in this case, the small infinity symbols).

  9. NobodyofGreatImport it’s because you’re crossing your eyes as if to focus on something close up, rather than something in the distance.
    Tru focusing on a point behind your monitor and it will stand out in 3 dimensions properly

  10. nobodyofgreatimport, it’s because you’re focusing your eyes closer instead of farther away than the screen (converging instead of diverging)
    I don’t get why everyone thinks stereograms are so hard to see; I just look, realize it’s a stereogram, move my eyes, and voila!
    (little hint for those who do need it: get very close the screen, look “far away” into the “distance,” and slowly move away. After several tries, you should see it)

  11. AAAAAAAAAAAAA i get confsed XP

    r u suposed 2 stare at it?

    when i do i time out and fall asleep XP

    SHINO IS AWESOME XD

  12. I used to look at books of these a lot and they somehow never cease to amaze me. This one isn’t the best (just a bent u-shaped cylinder turned to an angle to look like a infinite symbol) but the effect is still there.

    I used to have trouble seeing them but once you get the hang of it, it’s like riding a bike really. It’s not easy if you’ve never done it but I can try to explain how it works for me. It’s all in having control of the focus of your eyes. People make the mistake of squinting and trying to focus too much when it’s really the opposite.
    First, u have to get up close–and I mean PRESS ya face up to the image. Then start to kinda cross (de-focus) ur eyes only a lil bit. Certainly not fully crossed but ever so slightly, just until ur vision is blurred. It’s important to do this and it shouldn’t hurt ur eyes one bit. Now HOLD IT there and SLOWLY start to pull ur face back away from the image. Hopefully, while u’r still focused this way and backing up, the 3D image will appear clearly even if only for a split-second. The instance that happens u gotta sort of re-focus and try to get ur eyes to hold on to that image rather than revert to blurry vision. If u dont get it, press ur face up close and try again. It’s really a training of ur eyes. Once your good at it, u can even switch between seeing it the 3D (correct) way and the inverted (trench) way at will! And if your only seeing the inverted way, you may be crossing ur eyes TOO much (which can’t be good). Hope that helps!

  13. If you see the stereograms in reverse (what should be popping out is actually pushed in) you need to understand how they work.

    To see these properly your focal point needs to be beyond the distance of the actual picture (typically about twice the distance).

    If your seeing it in reverse you’ve done the opposite and your focal point is in front of the picture by the same ratio (in this case half the distance to the picture).

    If you’re seeing it in reverse, your eyes are probably crossed.

  14. i dont see anything.. just tic tac toe boards… wat is it? i tried three times… but eyes water and have 2 blink =(

  15. I see letters in the middle, small capital letters and bigger letters behind them, but i cant read them…

  16. I love these things!! Am I the only one who’s seen two different 3D pics in this???? The first, and most frequently seen, is the infinity symbol, but the other, which I’ve seen twice, is simply jagged 3D lines coming forward, and what ALMOST looks like a snakes head in the middle. LOVE THIS SITE!!!!

  17. NobodyofGreatImport – whether you see it inverted or normal depends on how you focus on it.

    People who x-eye to see it will see it inverted, people who ‘focus beyond’ the image will see it normally. I think that would be to do with the focal length of your eyes at that point.

  18. it’s actually pretty easy to see the infinity sign, even on the picture from teh google widget

  19. all you people who are saying that your not suppost to cross your eyes because that will make you see it inverted are all wrong!

    some of these aren’t suppost to appear to come out of the screen! some are make to appear to go in to the screen!

    its actually easier if you cross your eyes than if you try to look beyond the image.

    you still get the same effect if you cross your eyes instead of looking beyond the image it just inverted.

    all the steriograms i’ve looked at from this website jump out of the screen when i cross my eyes. this one goes in if i cross my eyes. its not the wrong image. your actually suppost to cross your eyes and overlap similar bits of the image that are slightly different and those differences make it appear to be jumping out of the screen.

    so everyone who sees the infinity symbol as an indent instead of coming out of the screen are seeing the correct image!

  20. In this stereogram, the flat background is supposed to appear farther away than the screen, and the infinity symbol is supposed to pop out convexly from this background. However, even though the infinity symbol does “pop out,” it also appears farther away from the screen. Diverging achieves this effect.

  21. The colored ones top and bottom are on 4 different levels of depth; top row is closest to the viewer in the middle, bottom is farthest in the middle.

  22. I have looked at these a lot, so I saw the infinity symbol quite easy. But then, something strange happened, and my eyes just got a little out of focus – but I was still seeing the infinity symbol but now it was hacked up in two pieces, still in 3D! Like two half-infinity symbols.. A really cool effect, but I cant manage so see it again, or really explain what happened…

  23. i dunno how to look at them!!!! can someone explain it to me cos ican see the ones where you cross your eyes but i dunno how the ones with repeating pattern(like da 1st one) works…… PLEEASEE someone explsin to me!!!

  24. the coolest part is, if you can get it to really stick, run your finger ‘inside’ the groove (dont actually touch the screen, it breaks the illusion). my finger felt like it was actually touching something!!!

  25. Hey! thats cool. i finally saw it for the first time :D
    it helps me to put my nose up close to the screen and then move away to about 5 or 6 inches…then i make my eyes wider and smaller until i see it.
    just some advice–hope it helps those of you who can’t see it!

  26. to add to my previous comment (number 38), it also sometimes helps to enlarge the pic then get your nose really close up. then focus your eyes on the individual pixels and then go back and it really made a huge difference for me.

  27. I really hate these. I can never see anything. I always wondered how come everyone else can see them and I couldn’t. Finally I have an answer. I do have a lazy eye and according to the earlier comments that’s the reason. Oh well, I guess I’ll just skip the stereograms.

  28. I found the best advice on seeing these in a calendar I purchased. Place a reflective piece of clear plastic in front of the image. Focus your eyes on your reflection and the images pop right out!

  29. I KNOW HOW TO DO IT!!!!

    STARE AT THE PICTURE WHILST BEING CROSS EYED

    30 SECS LATER UN CROSS UR EYES AND SEE A BIRD!!

    AMASING

  30. does anyone else here ever find that they see another picture that makes no sense before they see the pic its meant to be in these things??? or am i just odd…

  31. When I cross my eyes to look beyond. I actually see multiple circles leading into the screen into the very center. But in the very center I don’t see an infinity symbol.

  32. Vurdlak wrote:
    “Mighty Optical Illusions already is biggest, most visited optical illusion database on the internet :)[…] Concerning the stereograms, I love them too, but never manage to see the hidden meaning”

    So, you are the webmaster of the biggest optical illusion database on the internet and never manage to see an hidden shape on a real stereogram (the scrambled ones)? THAT is amazing!

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