by Christmas is a time for contemplation, sharing gifts and enjoying time with loved ones. Not for being confused by optical illusions. But hold on to the eggnog and turn off the Strictly special because this Christmas optical illusion is mind boggling.
Do you see the two red snowflakes in the picture below? They are different sizes, right? But no. We’re told the two snowflakes in this optical illusion are actually the same size (if this festive treat has got you in the mood for more, check out our selection of must-see optical illusions).
So there I was with Christmas all planned out, ready to settle down for the Great Christmas Bake Off and an episode of His Dark Materials, when a company called Jackpotjoy sends us an annoying optical illusion to entertain us instead. The picture shows a bunch of festive snowflakes on a blue background. There are two red snowflakes: one surrounded by six large white snowflakes and the other surrounded by eight small snowflakes.
The red snowflakes appear to be different sizes. But we’re told that no, they’re actually identical. All the confusion is not due to one too many mimosas but to something called the “Ebbinghaus effect”, named after the German psychologist Hermann Ebbinghaus. He described how identically sized objects can appear larger or smaller than one another due to relative size perception.
Basically, our interpretation of the size of an object is affected by its proximity to others. When the surrounding white snowflakes are closer to the central red snowflake, it appears larger and vice versa. Our brain tells us that the red snowflake on the left must be smaller, because it is far away from the surrounding whites. The white snowflakes on the left are also much larger, making the red one seem small in comparison.
Now I thought maybe they were trying to pull a fast one on us here, so I dragged the image into photoshop (sorry guys, I had to check) to get rid of those pesky white snowflakes that confuse us. And sure enough, the two red snowflakes are identical.
Now, apparently in a test of 95 people, eight out of ten were fooled by the image. They won’t say if this was before or after the work Christmas party, but the statistics should provide some comfort to anyone confused by this optical illusion. If that’s got you in the mood for more, check out our pick of the best optical illusions of the year. Or see if you can design your own with the best graphic design software.
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