The Ames window illusion: Why your brain completely fails with this optical deception

The Windows logo from Microsoft has nothing to do with the illusion. It only looks like this by chance. (Image: Tmvectorart, BillionPotos.com, Hosaen - Adobe.stock.com)

There are many visual illusions, such as the rotating ballerina. For some she turns clockwise, for the others against clockwise. However, there is an optical illusion that pretends our brain that is physically not possible.

The so-called Ames window illusion shows a rotating trapeze (which is reminiscent of the Windows logo by Microsoft), in which a pen is stuck. You should see what happens then with your own eyes.

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Our brain shows us that the pen "glitch" through the window cross, although this is physically impossible.

That is why our brain completely fails in this deception

We know that a firm object cannot "slide through" through another. Why our brain still believes this is explained:

• Our brain interprets the trapeze as a rectangle, like a series of windows that become smaller due to the perspective.
• Our brain is used to the fact that objects that are further away appear smaller. However, the Ames window is distorted. This leads to an incorrect estimate in our brain because we believe that the smaller windows are further away.

The illusion is completed by the rotation of the window- And from this we go to the glue, the pen glide through the window cross.

• If the window turns, our brain expects that it is about 360 degrees around itself. But because the trapezoidal design makes both ends appear similar, it seems as if the window turns back and forth instead of making a full rotation.
• If you put a pen through the window, our brain will no longer come. The pen seems impossible to move because it revolves around itself while the trapeze seems to turn left to right.

Why does our brain fall for it?

Basically, the explanation can be broken down to a simple denominator: our brain is trained on certain interpretations and expects it to work in a firm way.

The AMES window illusion breaks with these expectations.

• Our brain interprets the shape of the Ames window as rectangular because we are used to the fact that windows are rectangular (or square).
• As a result, the brain ignores the distortion from the trapezoid and instead tries to make a sensible 3D structure out of it by suggesting us: "The small windows are further gone than the larger ones".
• There is also an automatic movement expectation: We expect objects to turn consistently. If this does not happen, our brain "false" the perception. The result: the pen glides through the window.

A similar optical deception is the aforementioned ballerina mentioned at the beginning.

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Where does this optical illusion come from?

The Ames window illusion was developed by the American scientist Adelbert Ames Jr. He specialized in optics, perception and psychology. You can do more about his person inLexicon of psychologyread.

The best known optical deception is thatAmes room.Due to a distorted room, people appear different tall. Many of you probably know that mainly through "The Lord of the Rings".

In order to make hobbits and dwarfs appear smaller, the so-called "forced perspective" (German: forced perspective) was worked during the filming-and it is based on the Ames room.

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More science topics:

The Ames window illusion shows us how much our brain is dependent on known patterns and expectations-and how easily it can be misled. Even if you concentrate, the brain cannot make a rhyme on the optical illusion.

Oh yes: the Windows logo from Microsoft probably has no connection to the illusion. That seems to be pure coincidence.