Viral
Mimi Launder
Dec 05, 2017

Picture:
Twitter / @IamHappyToast ; iStock / agrobacter
When this artist made a fun animation, he probably didn't expect to spark a scientific mystery.
Even though the gif is silent, people say they can hear the skipping pylon 'thud' or 'boing' onto the ground.
Gif by HappyToast
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Psychology researcher Dr Lisa DeBruine polled Twitter users on whether they could hear the gif. At the time of writing, a remarkable 70 per cent of people who took part in the poll said they could:
Picture: Twitter / @lisadebruine
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If you can hear the gif, thank the McGurk effect.
This phenomenon occurs when audio from one sound is paired with the visuals of another sound and we hear a different result entirely.
In other words, what we see can change what we hear.
For example, in this BBC Horizon clip audio of a man saying 'baa' paired with a video of him saying 'faa' - this leads us to hear 'faa' instead.
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However, the animation of the skipping pylons takes this phenomenon a step further; there is no sound in the gif, but the visual stimulus is still enough for people to hear a corresponding sound.
This effect is also seen in a study where 22 per cent of participants 'heard' faint sounds when shown a flash of light.
Surprisingly, all of this suggests that more people can 'hear movement' than the estimated 5 per cent of the population with synesthesia; a condition where one sense (for example, sound) is perceived as one or more other senses (for example, sight).
Correlated neuronal activity - where the brain 'expects' or 'predicts' something and then fires off the corresponding sense - may also have a part to play here, according to Andrew Kemendo the founder of app Pair 3D.
The gif's camera shake might also contribute to the phenomenon.
The gif's artist, Happy Toast, tweeted:
Picture: Twitter / @IamHappyToast
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HT IFLScienceÂ
More: What it means if you can't picture things with your imaginationÂ
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