Hopefully by now we are all familiar with optical illusions, from M.C. Escher’s drawings to the impossible triangle. My personal favorite has been the dots that appear at intersections on a grid of squares. Usually these visual illusions are only possible because they are drawn onto a 2D space, and our brain has to translate it into 3D, hence with translation errors and cool effects.
That said, some artists/engineers/architects/lego enthusiasts just couldn’t leave good enough alone, or simply got tired of confusing their brain on a 2D level, and have successfully engineered and re-created some of the world’s most famous optical illusions into 3D optical illusions, or even created a few of their own. This requires some serious dedication and knowledge of space and optics, not to mention creativity and artistic flare.
Scientific American has a slideshow depicting and describing some of this work. My favorite is the motorcycle. I’m also surprised nobody thought of the Lego ones sooner; you can make a Lego guy walk on the ceiling with ease.
Happy Lunar New Year, and year of the Ox!
