Warping Cushion Effect

The Warping Cushion Effect is yet another optical illusion that proves how selected patterns are able to distort the reality we perceive. Just look at the diagonal lines below! Even though they are perfectly straight and parallel, as well as the rectangles they form intersecting, something obviously doesn’t seem right. The warping effect that makes the lines misbehave prevents us from seeing the picture in its true nature. But what is responsible for such an amazing effect? Is it the stripes, their color and alignment? What would you say has the strongest impact? Shoot!

25 Replies to “Warping Cushion Effect”

  1. No one aspect of the picture alone has a strong effect on the distortion, rather, every part of it works together to produece the over all effect.

  2. My mind makes me think the black striped squares are in front of a gray striped background. Nice trick, but it results in so much more:

    This eases the focus, which makes my eyes shift images: that thing you need to do to see 3D images, seeing black striped square #1 with the left eye and black striped square #2 with the right eye, thinking it is the same square.
    This makes the whole image closer then it is: I tried to touch it with my finger, but poked through it before I hit my screen.

    Most coolest effect!

    This need to be printed on a large wall and with a few beers you can get lost in it! :D

  3. I find that it also shows grey and black, yet if I look at closely all vertical lines are black, When i scan the image up and down, I get a curly cue at the diamond intersections.

    Thanks.

  4. For me, the warping alternately appears and goes away.

    Interesting, though, is that if I focus on one diamond where the black/white is in a certain phase, the surrounding diamonds with the opposite phase appear to “vibrate” or “flicker”. I wonder if this is a true illusion or if it’s an artifact of CRT scanning (or scan frequency flicker)?

    Nice one.

  5. Awk, almost makes my eyes water ;)
    It’s all right (?) as long as I can watch at one point, but when eyes wonder around the gray striped parts seem to be behind the black striped ones.
    Would make very interesting and disturbing wall paper :)

  6. The high contrst black and white makes the distortion more pronounced. Take any factor away and the whole illusion won’t work so….

  7. BTW, there is another interesting effect, apart from warping the lines.
    If you stare in the middle of any rectangle for 2-5 seconds, the stripes in the rest of the rectangles form square labyrinths.

  8. if u scroll down slowly while looking at the picture the diamonds appear to move but the background doesnt. REALY cool!

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