Liam O'Dell
Apr 26, 2022
@charlesmeriot/TikTok
Optical illusions encourage you to think outside the box, and one visual trick which went viral on Twitter at the weekend encourages viewers to do that very literally.
The video, taken from the YouTube channel ‘Sonhos com Dimensão’, shows an individual drawing several distorted lines on grid paper before folding the sheet in the middle so the top half stands upright.
From several angles, it might not look like much, but when viewed from the right position, the lines merge to give the impression that a square is jumping off the page.
“Keep one eye closed and see the magic,” the video reads, but to save yourself some embarrassment or public humiliation, you don’t really need to do that.
One Twitter user took to the platform to explain what was taking place, writing that the shape is “adjusted by your point of view”.
“This type of illusion where a distorted drawing appears normal when viewed from a particular point is called anamorphosis,” they said.
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This illusion where you see a 3 dimensional cube even though it\u2019s not there \n\na shape is made that is adjusted by your point of view \n\nThis type of illusion where a distorted drawing appears normal when viewed from a particular point is called anamorphosispic.twitter.com/V9cj8RLyd1— Science girl (@Science girl) 1650836501
Soon after the video went viral, other accounts shared their own examples of art which uses anamorphosis:
Holy sh*t, *thats* what those patterns and weird reflecty cups are for??\nCc: sellingspamspic.twitter.com/cNi6LdIs6O— DAPPER DON DHARSHI \u2022 K A M I L \u2022 (@DAPPER DON DHARSHI \u2022 K A M I L \u2022) 1650842416
another famous case of anamorphic art is Hans Holbein's painting "The Ambassadors". he included a "distorted" skull on the painting that only is visible normally from a certain anglepic.twitter.com/hEXyiXw0JG— Javier Gim\u00e9nez (@Javier Gim\u00e9nez) 1650837411
Is this why on pitch / sideline advertisements in sport look crazy from all angles except from the TV camera viewpoint?— Billy Husky (@Billy Husky) 1650841157
Same concept with my tree.pic.twitter.com/DUwm4X7zZe— pencilfury (@pencilfury) 1650844364
The full video detailing how the illusion can be created can be found on YouTube.
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