In this video below, miniature balls roll up the slopes just as if they were pulled by a magnet. This behavior seems impossible as it defies gravity, and the magnetic forces can’t help, as the balls are made of wood! I can assure you there are no fancy computer graphics. Just cardboard, glue, and some wooden balls. It’s a real scene, indeed!
This marvelous “piece of art” was created by Koukichi Sugihara, one of the top 10 finalists of the Best Visual Illusion of the Year Contest in 2010. Hence, you can even grab some building instructions off of his website, and construct your very own Magnet-like Slopes. You’ll quickly realize how Koukichi achieved this effect, after seeing the video. What is actually happening is that the orientations of the slopes are perceived oppositely, and hence the descending motion is misinterpreted as ascending motion. What is so remarkable about this illusion, is that it is entirely generated by a three-dimensional solid object and physical motion, instead of a two-dimensional picture.
Cover it with snow and we can all go skiing.
Really really great illusion. I thought that it has to do with the point of view… but I had never expectet that the real object is that complicated! Amazing
lol there’s a way to mess with my head before I’ve had coffee! This one was wild. I had sorted out intellectually how he had done it fairly quickly, but until he turned it around I just couldn’t see it.
Awesome!
OMG! It’s so cool!
Too Cool!
Fantastic.
That is one of the best illusions you’ve posted in a long time. Great find.
very cool
One of the best!! Stunning.
This is an excellent illusion, reinforcing the notion that you can’t always trust what you think you are seeing.
well, I knew from previous experience that it was just a point of view illusion, and that the balls were actually descending, but I just couldn’t see it until he turned it around.
Oh man that is so SICK!!!
I loved it. Thank you.
WOW…..
By far one of the best posted. I have no idea how it was done. It just blew my mind when he lifted the mini ramps. I am anxious to see more comments and opinions as to how it was done. Yes indeed!
That is so cool! First I thought: It has to be done like this. But then I changed my mind, turns out it wás done like that, but just a little different! Awesome :D
Amazing, even though I knew how it worked I couldn’t see it!
it was obvious that it was slanted, but how do u position it and what angle do u put the camera at?
this is AWESOME cool trippy amazing and can fall under the ILLUSIONS category. no offense but a lot of these pictures and stuff just arent illusions. not that they arent cool. but this is an illusion site so im just saying.i love this site though and it is awesome.
A favourite.
What can I say ??? A W E S O M E ! ! !
the more marbles he puts on the more you can see the difference in the slopes lengths
how does that work!its awesome!
great
Brilliant. One of the best illusions yet.
Absolutely one of the best illusions I have ever seen.
Very cool! In my hometown, there really was a hill like this. We called it Magnetic Hill; when you drove along it, you could take your foot off the gas and it seemed like you were being pulled uphill, but it was actually a downwards slope. Natural illusions for the win!! xD
it is a magnet!!!
Fabulous
i knew it was gonna be something like that, but for some strange reason i still cant see through the illusion.
Really cool!
I knew that there was something like it, but I couldn’t see it. Great illusion though.
thats amazing :D
Love it!!!
creepy…
I was beggining to doubt this website, but that is a great illusion! Brilliant!
this is AWESOME, ………..awsome, I love this…..I thought that the movement must be downward, but I couldnt imagine how xD…….until I saw the whole video
WOW! That is fantastic. I wasn’t expecting that, it has messed with my head. Will I be able to believe anything I see again? Best Illusion ever, really clever.
That’s so so cool!
WOW IT’S JUST LIKE MAGNETIC HILL IN MONCTON, NEWBRUNSWICK.
soooooooooooo sick
The overwhellming power of mis direction due to manipulating perspective cues is trully awsom in this illusion [wow!} and over such a short lengty or distance ( the “ramps” see to be just a few centimeters long.) One of the strongest perceptul mis cue and contour illusions I have seen.
Ya FLEA straight up man I’ve been on that hill too. soo sick. Ya. This is a good illusion tho fo sho, kinda wish my driveway was like that…
Now THAT is sweet..
Impressive!!!
very nice M8 so simply but all so Brillant
Thank you :-D
that was freakin stupifieing!
Hi Koukichi.really great ,totally blew my mind ,can i share the vid with others :-) absolute knock out ,
i know how they did it.
the slopes are actually low in the middle and high in the edges. they just put the camera angle in a clever position.
very well done. aw, who am i kidding, it was
AWESOME!!!
i figured it out from the picture before i saw the video. the slopes actually go down to the middle.
This is simply amazing!!! What a great achievement! Koukichi is a f*cking genius!
they should sell that and make tons of money XD
amazing video
this one is awesome, one of the greatest illusion structure
It is beyond cool, is amazing, extraordnary!
WOW, amazing…
That is one of the best..
Love to make one of them!
obviously it just is slightly tilted towards the camera…..
a says:
May 16, 2010 at 8:15 am
obviously it just is slightly tilted towards the camera…..
No, it’s an illusion of shading of paper on the base that makes it look like the middle post is higher than the outer ones tricking our brains to think that the ramps are slanted up toward the middle rather than down.
So exciting,it is so fun.
that was mad!!! props Koukichi you are a legend
nice!
I cant see the vid!! But it is awesome!!!LLLLLLOOOOOLLLLL!!!
Ingenious!
Great illusion! About the same principle as in this excellent illusion: https://www.moillusions.com/2006/03/dragon-illusion.html
ABSOLUTELY INCREDIBLE!!!! by far the best illusion i’ve seen for a while. AND it’s a 3D shape, unlike most
Ummm they are magnetized….??? so whats so great?
retard they aren’t magnatized watch the video
SICK. Really awesome. And no, they are not magnetized. Watch the whole video, stupid.
Wow
They are not magnetized because they are made of wood. The balls are descending, but the slopes are at an angle so it looks like they are ascending.
nice……..but booooooring
This Japanese name or surnameee! xD! Illusion is very very nice and strange :) Sugihara-sama :)
THAT IS SO COOL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
If you know engineering drawing, then this is not an illusion.
this is epic lol it looks impossible almost =3
This reminds me of the toy where you try to get a ball to roll “up” 2 rails that that can be manipulated at slightly non-parallel angles
if someone knows the title of the song used in this video, pls tell me!!!! pls i love it!
Hey,
They used this optical illusion to explain “Magnetic Hill” in New Brunswick where people believed that when they drove down the hill then put their cars in neutral at the bottom, their cars were rolling backwards up the hill, when really they were rolling downwards… Check it out on youtube.com ;)
Damn…that is nice stuff
woh!!!Nice
Here’s something really similar and like this.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vmkaVoLoFEU
that was absolutly awesome
That is so cool. I gotta do that
Cool!
This is the reason why i want to move to japan.
YOU CAN PERFORM THIS EFFECT IN A CAR,GO TO THE MAIN STREET BEHIND ST PETERS, THE VATICAN, AND DRIVE AWAY FROM THE DOME IT APPEARS YOUR BEING PULLED UPHILL TOWARDS THE DOME AS YOU DRIVE AWAY FROM IT,IT GROWS INCREASINGLY LARGER!
OMG I can’t believe it! I <3 OPTICAL ILLUSIONS!
Fantastic illusion! One of the best I’ve seen so far! :D
Can you download something which teaches you how to make that?
mind = BLOWN
calm down. its just cardboard/paper!
It may be a three dimensional solid object but what is helping here most is the 2D representation on a flat screen. The perception must be entirely different when the eyes have the entirely three dimensional object placed in entirely normal environment
One of the coolest illusions!
But what I really like in this video is its music!
Even music has a mystery tone!
Does anybody know its origin/composer?
I would be grateful.
its the p.o.v they want you to see