10 Cool Optical Illusions

#15 Making Waves

 
Looks like an Animal Collective album cover. Actually isn't. Don't be alarmed if you think it's moving. That's kind of the idea.
 

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15: Making Waves
Looks like an Animal Collective album cover. Actually isn't. Don't be alarmed if you think it's moving. That's kind of the idea.
14: Blinking Dots
You can also notice this effect by stargazing. Stars appear in the corners of your eyes, but when you like right at them they seem to disappear. Same thing's goin' on here.
13: A Classic
This is a classic optical illusion that supposedly says something about your personality based on which woman you see first. We don't know what that something is though.
12: Wavy Lines
Are the horizontal lines parallel or not? Better question: if I paint my kitchen floor like this, will the results be really funny?
11: Round and Round
This image looks like there's a spiral curling down towards the center. It's actually a series of concentric circles.
10: Einstein and Monroe
It looks like Albert Einstein, but take about ten steps back and you'll see Marilyn Monroe (maybe five steps if you're near-sighted.)
9: Old Couple
This is an elaboration of the classic illusion showing either two faces in profile or a vase/goblet (if anyone still uses goblets.) There's more things to see in this image. How many can you find?
8: Cat and Mouse
You know how it goes: cheese caught by mouse, mouse caught by cat, cat caught by...people looking for optical illusions.
7: Sidewalk Art
There are a few really great artists who create amazing works of art like this.
6: Escher
I mean, we can't have a list of optical illusions without M.C. Escher
5: Elephant
Quick! How many legs does this elephant have? Four, right? Five? Seven?
4: Big Beer
There's some clever advertising. We're thinking it might be better advertising to actually make a bottle of beer that big. We'd be down.
3: Who's That Girl
You know this famous woman, though you may not recognizer her like this. But stare at the red dot on her nose for 30 seconds, then look at a blank surface and blink quickly.
2: Never-ending Stairs
And think how much you complain when the elevator's out of order. Sisyphus didn't have it so great, now did he?
1: Optical Illusion
An optical illusion spelling "optical illusion." Or "illusion optical" we suppose. Either way, this is so meta it's even messing with our heads.