Eye Tricks

Scary Faces Illusion

Here's an original illusion we created. You'll see that the ghostly faces seem to disappear after you watch the animation for awhile. We present two versions:

First Image: you'll see a high-contrast version where the after-image effect is quite strong, and you'll see the reverse of the face in the places where it is not.

Second Illusion: the second version of the illusion is on a gray background, where you may see more of the ghost faces disappear, because of the similar contrast. Both are fun!

Instructions: Stare at the center spot for at least 45 seconds. Sometimes it takes up to 2 minutes to see the illusion! Don't worry, nothing is going to jump out at you!

Similar versions of this optical illusion have been created before, but I wanted to do something a little more interesting than just spots, and have something that you could share with your friends just in time for Halloween.

If you stare long enough, you really will see the faces seem to disappear, because your brain can only keep track of so many moving objects at once... and once the after image starts to get stronger and stronger, it adds to the effect on your eyes and brain to make this a most astonishing optical illusion!