A photo of three women sitting on a park bench has left the internet in a state of confusion. At first glance the photo appears to show the trio pausing for a sit down during a sunny stroll. But there’s something wrong with the image that only become obvious on closer inspection.
On close inspection, there appears to be no seat on the bench and the women are hovering mid air. The most likely explanation is that the bench features smaller pull out seats. The image was posted by Imgur user I don’t even know what’s going on yesterday, and has received more than 63,500 views.
Optical illusions neither trick the eye or fool the brain but are fascinating! They also teach us about our visual perception, and its limitations. Emphasis here is on beauty, interactive experiments, and attempts at explanation of the visual mechanisms involved. Some I find easily, and some I struggle with, but both are fun to find. What do you think?