The word illusion comes from the Latin word Illusio, which means “delusion”, “deception”.
An illusion is a distorted perception of a real object or phenomenon that allows for ambiguous interpretations. There is a stereotype that deceptions are the result of mental imbalance. In reality, there is no such thing. Deceptions can occur in mentally healthy people. Illusions can be physical, optical, sound, auditory, verbal, olfactory. Illusions “play” with the peculiarities of the structure of our brain, our psychology.
Fifteen years ago, in one corner of modern-day France, a Paleolithic man carved a mammoth or bison into a rock. The truth is that “creation” is any animal, depending on how it is interpreted. The discoverer of it, Duncan Caldwell, assumed that it was one of the oldest cases of visual illusion. Illusions today, in addition to their fascinating nature, are also valuable TOOLS that help to reveal the secrets of perception and cognition.
Optical illusions range from the simplest and most classic illusions to complex geometric structures. Examples of simple illusions are the lines of Mueller-Layer and Ponzo, which are actually equal, but we perceive them in different ways. An example of complex illusions is the deception of the Japanese mathematician-painter Kokiti Sugihara: objects of a specific geometric shape are reflected in the mirror in a completely different way. Psychologist Richard Gregory classifies visual illusions as physical, physiological, cognitive, which in turn have subtypes: imaginary, ambiguous, paradoxical distortion.
These different effects involve different mechanisms and different levels of neural processing. Some of the most astonishing illusions are based on the same effect of simultaneous contrast ․ It is hard for us to believe that the two squares have the same shade of gray when we see them on a contrasting background, such as Adelson’s chess shadow illusion. This effect was first discovered in the 19th century, and since then scientists have tried to find out whether the secret of the effect lies in our vision or interpretation of reality. That is, is it physiological or psychological?
Many illusions do not require complex human brains. Monkeys, such as fish, frogs, and birds, have been found to be sensitive to some visual illusions. But it is much more surprising that it exists in insects, whose eyes and brains are very different from those of humans. A 2017 study by vision specialist Adrian Dyer found that bees are under the deception of Ebbinghaus, according to which two identical figures are perceived in different sizes depending on the objects around them.
A recent study by Damon Clark, a neurophysicist at Yale University, showed that flies perceive motion illusions in which a fixed geometric band appears to be moving. Researchers have found this effect in two specific flies’ neurons, and their experiments show that the insect and our brain “can use the same mechanisms.”
The reality is that not much has yet been revealed about our illusory perceptions. Interestingly, children are deceived less often. Elena Nava, a psychologist at the University of Milan in Bikozka, told about the research, according to which the Ebbinghaus illusion is less deceptive for children.
Many do not even imagine how infinite their imagination is, how different and unique our perceptions of the same phenomenon are. The Museum of Illusions is an educational and entertaining place, where it is possible to have full fun, as well as to enrich the knowledge base. The experience lived here will motivate each visitor to look at things and the surrounding objects from a different perspective.
During your stay in the museum you will live a completely different life, it will be different for everyone, depending on the peculiarities of individual perception.
The doors of our museum are open to you with various illusions. You can also book tickets online. (BUY TICKETS)
