The Magical, Mystical, Mind-boggling Ames Window

Although your brain is more remarkable than the most powerful computer in the world, it is possible to fool that same brain of yours. look at this, what can you see? Oh you say it's easy, I can see a

window

that rotates, is it rotating or not, does it stop now it goes the other way, so we are seeing a

window

that goes backwards and forwards it stops again now it goes back the other one backwards and forward all the time oscillating are you sure that's what you're seeing? We are looking at an optical illusion that was invented by Adelbert Ames in 1951 and it is quite a remarkable illusion.

If we stop the window now, you'll notice that it rotated in the same direction all the time on a rotating table in the same way all the time. Maybe, but it's not a rectangle, you assume it was a window, so it must be a rectangle, oh no, it's not, look at that end, it's quite short there, this end is quite big, in fact, it's a trapezoid, a trapezoid, a strange shape, not a rectangle, however, but since we have seen so many windows in our lives, we assume that they are all rectangular. Let's take a look at a real window.

Your brain was forced to choose in that illusion between seeing a rectangular window going forward and backward. or a rotating trapezoid and you chose the rectangular window, did you know that whenever you look at a rectangular window that has cross pieces you can see not only the fronts of those cross pieces but also the sides and you can even see shadows under some of the crosses. pieces, but you have seen so many of these windows that you know all along that they will be rectangular and you can see that I have painted this window on a flat piece of cardboard to make it look like a real window, in fact, I have painted the cross pieces to make them look three dimensional .

I've even painted the shadows that might appear if you had a light from above. Okay, now you know it's an illusion. You know it's not a window, it's a flat piece. cardboard, you also know that it is a trapezoid, it is not a rectangle, so now the illusion won't work on you, right? It shouldn't work on us and it still does, we still see the window going back and forth, look it seems to stop now and now it changes direction and goes back the other way, although we know because we've seen it on the record player we know that It spins in the same direction all the time, well I think the problem is that we don't have a reference point, what we have to do is place something on the window, so we'll stop it now and place a match. box to one end, we'll clip it to the short end here with a paper clip and then all you need to do is look at that matchbox and use it as a reference point so that this time the illusion doesn't fool you or Will you see this now?

There is a box of matches around the back of the window. Keep looking at her now. Look what happens. The window appears to stop and recede, but the matchbox continues to approach and floats past this edge of the window and rejoins the other edge. of the window look at how it swings back around the back firmly attached to the window, you can see that, but here's the crazy part, the window seems to stop its legs and then recoil, but the matchbox is still floating in space, I think which maybe is the problem. Do we have our reference point attached to the window?

Let's stop it, remove the matchbox and this time place a reference point across the center of the window. What I will use is a ruler. The wooden ruler cannot be bent and I will place it. It's right in the center of the window in this position here now this time you look at the ruler you know it can't be bent so this time I'm sure we will beat the illusion what do you think here we go now is the window rotating? so is the ruler, it's attached to the window, but what's happening here the window goes backwards, the ruler keeps coming and now it passes one way or another through the window, really crazy, the window stops suddenly. new, the ruler keeps coming, rulers attached to the window, you can see that I can even see the pin, but look what's happening here.

The rule is coming. The window stops. The window goes back and one way or another they get through even though you know they can't do it. What a crazy illusion Adelbert Ames invented. It's not that noticeable. you know you can make one yourself just with a piece of cardboard a little piece of cardboard that you're going to paint to give it the same kind of shadow effect to make it look three dimensional do it the same on each side and then put a pin in it. have a friend hold it at a certain distance from you so close one eye or look through a hole in a piece of cardboard and ask your friend to turn it and you will find that same illusion, you know why it works for all of us because we are so used to it to see rectangular windows, if you take the same illusion to a tribe in the middle of Africa where they have not seen rectangular windows, it does not work for them, they see them turning and turning and turning, while We see Him going back and forth all the time. time.