On Monday May 13th, the Neural Correlate Society hosted the 9th annual Best Illusion of the Year Contest in Naples, Florida. Out of the ten finalist competitors, the Best Illusion of the Year title went to “Rotation Generated by Translation”, an illusion developed by a team of mathematicians and illusion creators from Meiji University in Japan. The winning illusion consists of the perception of apparent rotation from straight translational motion. Just as shocking, Jun Ono, the lead illusionist from the Japanese team, presented the illusion in full Batman attire, cape and mask included.
The views expressed are those of the author(s) and are not necessarily those of Scientific American.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR(S)
Susana Martinez-Conde
Susana Martinez-Conde is a professor of opthalmology, neurology, and physiology and pharmacology at SUNY Downstate Medical Center in Brooklyn, N.Y. She is author of the Prisma Prize-winning Sleights of Mind, along with Stephen L. Macknik and Sandra Blakeslee. Their forthcoming book, Champions of Illusion, will be published by Scientific American/Farrar, Straus and Giroux.
On Monday May 13th, the Neural Correlate Society hosted the 9th annual Best Illusion of the Year Contest in Naples, Florida. Out of the ten finalist competitors, the Best Illusion of the Year title went to “Rotation Generated by Translation”, an illusion developed by a team of mathematicians and illusion creators from Meiji University in Japan. The winning illusion consists of the perception of apparent rotation from straight translational motion. Just as shocking, Jun Ono, the lead illusionist from the Japanese team, presented the illusion in full Batman attire, cape and mask included.
