Tuesday, September 21, 2010

Mirror, mirror off the wall ...

A previously unknown stranger-in-the-mirror illusion has been described. According to this 2-page academic paper, under the right lighting conditions, the participant just has to gaze at his or her reflected face within the mirror and usually “after less than a minute, the observer began to perceive the strange-face illusion”.

Unfortunately, the intriguing citation for "Margaret Thatcher: a new illusion," Perception 9, 483 – 484 1980, is restricted.

Caveat lector: I haven't tried it personally but as far as I know, this is not a hoax.

1 comment:

  1. This is very interesting, and weird. "Strange-face" is an apt name. I wonder what happens when one looks into the face of another well-known individual, such as a spouse? Does this result in a similar effect?

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