People have been left scratching their heads over a popular optical illusion – and while some say it’s easy, others are convinced it’s a ‘troll’ created to keep them guessing
It’s important to keep your brain active throughout the day – and one way to achieve this is by challenging yourself to a brainteaser. But one optical illusion has sent social media users into a spiral with many admitting to searching the internet for answers after failing to solve it themselves.
On Reddit, a user reshared a popular optical illusion known as either the Wall of Circles or the Coffer Illusion, saying: “Oldie but goodie, one of the very best illusions, a wall of circles.” They attached the illusion which shows 20 striped black and white boxes on top of a striped background.
However, there’s said to be 16 circles hidden within the image somewhere – can you see them?
Commenting on the post, one user said: “That was annoying. I’ve seen this one before and knew how it worked, but it still took me a solid minute of staring at it before I was able to see the circles, even though they’re incredibly obvious once you do.”
Another user added: “I cant think of many better illusions where you can only perceive one form at a time, but the flip is so easy to make once you know it.”
A third user said: “Ok, I have stared at it for about 20 minutes now and I can’t see any circles at all…
“And I’m beginning to think that I’m probably the world’s biggest sucker?”
One more user added: “If you’re using a phone, then hold it close to your eyes, staring at the image. Slowly pull the phone away from your eyes, trying not to focus.
“You should then see the circles. This is the only way that I was ever able to see ‘Magic Eye’ images.”
Another user said: “Okay, for anybody questioning this… it really does work. It took me a while and I was convinced it was just a troll or something.
“But it finally clicked, and there is a 4×4 grid of round circles cantered on the image… it’s like an old stare-o-gram, if I un-focus my eyes and stare through the picture I can see them.”
A final user said: “I think my eyes are broken…. I only see squares no matter what I do.”
According to associate professor Alex Holcombe and PhD student Kim Ransley from the School of Psychology at the University of Sydney, our brain’s tendency to identify objects in what we’re seeing makes it difficult for us to see ‘hidden images’.
They said: “For most people, the grouping into rectangles initially dominates. This may be because rectangles (including the ones we see in door panels) are often more common than circles in our daily environment, and so the brain favours the grouping that delivers rectangular shapes.”
