Lizzie Borden Society Forum

Which way do you see the dancer moving.

If you see her moving clockwise (right) you are mostly left brained and logical.

If you see her moving counter-clockwise (left) you are mostly right brained and creative.

You can change the way you see her so you can change which side of the brain is dominant.

Here is the link for the faster dancer.

http://www.allmyfaves.com/blog/weekly-f ... aybe-both/

Kewl!

That is WILD! When I first look at it I see her going clockwise. I cannot get her to go the other way until I make my hand go in that direction with her. As soon as I stop doing that she returns to clockwise.

I see what you mean, Angel, I can get her to change directions by moving my finger clockwise or counterclockwise around the figure. She seems to start out clockwise for me, too.

I can't seem to see her moving any way but counterclockwise.

I spoke too soon. I looked again and she was moving clockwise!

Well, I'll be Darned!!! She starts out moving clockwise for me, and I can get her to go counter-clockwise by moving my finger around the figure - It is more difficult for me to get her to change direction by using my hand. The easiest way for me to get her to change direction is by looking away from the image for 3 seconds or so, then re-focus on the image again.

Thanks for sharing this with us Stefani - VERY COOL.

Neat find, Stefani, thanks. I see the dancer going both directions, all I have to do is look away and then back and she switches direction. I did see her moving counterclockwise first though.

Oh wow, that's neat! It took a minute before I caught on to the pattern of the movement, but there is a pattern. She goes both ways.

doug65oh @ Fri Sep 14, 2007 11:06 pm wrote:Oh wow, that's neat! It took a minute before I caught on to the pattern of the movement, but there is a pattern. She goes both ways. :wink:

Why spread such gossip? What did she ever do to you?

Watch her foot, the one touching the floor and you can see her, or make her, change directions at will. The lack of depth causes this effect. You can't tell if she is facing you or away from you. Cast a little light on her body and the illusion disappears. Neat effect though.

-1bigsteve (o:

Yes I saw her clockwise, then scrolled up to re-read the info, scrolled down and she was going counter to the original way. All I had to do was scroll. I tried it twice. Once I moved the frame out of sight of her and moved it back she reversed.

I don't think it is perception. I think it's a trick, right?

No, there's actually no "trick" to it. Focus on the dancer -you can read the info first of course but then focus completely on the dancer - and you'll hopefully see what I'm talking about. There appears to be a pattern/sequence "trigger" but I've not figured out yet what sets it off. I'm tempted to lay a stopwatch down and actually time the motion. I'd love to know how they ever designed an image that would do that!

That's the same as a trick isn't it? It's not my brain, it's something in the mechanics of the invention of the image? Maybe I am misunderstanding the whole thing.

It's less a trick than an effect, I guess is what I'm trying to say. There's a somewhat mesmerizing quality to it: A not unattractive image dancing to and fro - round and round until - poof! what did you just see?

Well, she was dancing 'round to the left...
No she was going to the right!
Are you nuts?? The girl is obviously dancing in both directions!

The effect the visual stimulus has on the brain aids or hinders how we perceive it.

Where the trick comes into it is purely from a technical standpoint. Even though it's all in fun, there's some pretty extreme science there, at both ends of the spectrum

doug65oh @ Mon Sep 17, 2007 12:55 am wrote:... The effect the visual stimulus has on the brain aids or hinders how we perceive it....

I agree, Doug.

The image of the dancer is an optical illusion. Our brains are basically "tricking" us into seeing the dancer change direction from clockwise to counter-clockwise and vice versa. In other words, we don't always see what we think we see. I'll make an attempt at illustrating what I believe is happening. Click on the image to show the wheel turning.

Focus on the red dots, and follow them around the wheel - the wheel will appear to be rotating in a counter-clockwise direction. Then switch your focus and follow the yellow dots around the wheel - it now appears to be rotating in a clockwise direction.

The same thing happens when you focus on the dancer. If your focus is disrupted, then the effect of the disruption causes the image to appear as if it has changed direction. That is why all of the different ways we have discovered to get her to move in the opposite direction, work. I can even get her to change direction simply by blinking my eyes, once, after focusing on the image for about 30 seconds or so.

The difference between the dancer and the turning wheel is that the dancer is a more complicated creation of an optical illusion than the image of the turning wheel.

Interesting... It's not easy to do, but I was just able to focus on the dancer long enough to detect an apparent ratio. I didn't use a timing device, but during whatever the time period was, the ratio was 15:2, the majority being in a clockwise direction.

I can make her change her direction at will by looking at her foot, the one she is standing on.

Notice that when her extended foot is at it's farthest reach, left or right, at a 90 degree angle to you, her head, abdomen and breasts are all in perfect silhouette. In other words her face, breasts and hips are all facing the exact same direction as her extended leg. Not a 3/4 view, or a 15/16ths view or a 5/8ths view but a perfect side view.

Now, watch her extended foot as it goes from, say from your right to your left (clockwise for her) and reaches the farthest point to your left. At that split second, her face, breasts and hips will be at a perfect right angle to you. As her nose and breasts dissappear we assume that her nose and breasts are dissappearing away from us, with her back now facing us. But how do we know? How do we know that her extended foot continued the clockwise rotation? It could have just as easily reached it's farthest point to your left and then reversed it's direction, now going counter-clockwise. Our brain want's to continue the clockwise (or counter-clockwise, however we see it) rotation just like our brains want to fill in the gaps in a motion picture. We think we are seeing smooth motion but we are only seeing 24 still photographs each second.

Now, here are a few more clues. Look at the lower leg, the one she is standing on. Her inner and outer calf muscles are a mirrored image of each other. That does not happen in real life. The people who created this illusion kept her inner and outer calf muscles looking exactly alike to prevent you from telling whether she is facing you or looking away from you. They did the same to the ankle bones and feet. If this was a real woman there would not be much of an illusion. The fact that there is no light shinning on her adds to the illusion. Her heel hitting the floor is another clue. At that point her heel is lower than the ball but just before her heel touches the floor the ball and heel are level with each other. This is done to create an illusion of perspective. The shadows are there for the same reason. Notice her toes on both feet are pointing directly at you (or away from you). That is done so you can't see which side of her feet the big toes are on.

Watch her heel as it hits the floor and you can see her change directions.

-1bigsteve (o:

The image of the dancer is sure intriguing! I am not at all convinced that the direction we see the dancer moving in when we first view the image, determines if we are right-brained or left-brained. What I find interesting and a much more convincing way of determining if we are right-brained or left-brained, is in the responses of the people posting. The members who are making an attempt at figuring out how and/or why she changes direction along with the content their detailed findings, tell me that these people are more left-brained: logical, rational, analytical, etc.

I found a couple of links regarding right-brain vs left-brain, that you may find interesting:

This link contains the basic definitions of right-brain vs left-brain: http://www.funderstanding.com/right_left_brain.cfm

This link is more involved, which you will see when you go into the boxes titled, The Left Side, and The Right Side. It also has a couple of quizzes to determine if you are more right-brained or left-brained: http://www.angelfire.com/wi/2brains/

I studied optical illusions in art class and still have books on the subject. It is interesting to study how the brain works and how it can be fooled. The creator of this illusion tweeked this dancer's anatomy to keep us guessing as to her rotation. If that was a film of a real woman the illusion would disappear even without any light hitting her body. A logical left-brained approach to examining these illusions is what it takes to explain how they work. It also takes the fun out of it.

-1bigsteve (o:

I agree, Steve, it does take the fun out of it when explaining how it works - to a degree. I find it fascinating to try and figure it all out. I also agree that the creator of the dancer tweaked the image to keep us guessing and that if it were the image of a real woman the illusion would disappear, because that is how our eyes and brain work.

I have always liked the rotating pink dot optical illusion, as it shows that we can't always believe what we see. For the benefit of those who are not familiar with this illusion, I'll post the instructions here:

Click on the image to animate the rotating pink dots. If you let your eyes follow the movement of the rotating dots, you will only see one color; pink. If you stare at the black + in the center of the image, the moving pink dot appears to turn into a green dot. Continue to concentrate on the black + in the center of the picture, after a short period of time, all the pink dots will slowly disappear, and you will only see a rotating green dot.

In reality, there is no green dot; the reason you see the green dot is because the color green is the afterimage color of magenta. Furthermore, the pink dots do not really disappear. This is a good example of your eyes playing a trick on your mind.

Pretty cool, huh?

twinsrwe @ Wed Sep 19, 2007 2:08 pm wrote:Continue to concentrate on the black + in the center of the picture, after a short period of time, all the pink dots will slowly disappear, and you will only see a rotating green dot.

For me, the pink dots do not disappear, they only collect green around them. Maybe I'm not waiting long enough.

Constantine @ Wed Sep 19, 2007 3:05 pm wrote:For me, the pink dots do not disappear, they only collect green around them. Maybe I'm not waiting long enough.

Try waiting a bit longer, Constantine, the pink dots will slowly disappear. However, they will reappear if you shift your gaze, even slightly, away from the black +. The illusion of the pink dots disappearing is very short lived.

Once the pink dots disappear, quickly shift you gaze to the blank white space beside the image, and you will momentarily see all green dots.

Can't seem to get them to disappear. No problem with the green after-image, though. (I'm quite familiar with that kind of thing.)

I got the doll to move clockwise the 1st time but now she won't stop moving counter-clockwise