Sound-induced Flash Illusion
Quicktime Demo
What? This is the first
visual illusion that is caused by a non-visual cue, namely sound! The illusion
is: when a single flash is accompanied with two beeps, the single flash
is perceived as two flashes. The illusion is strongest when the flash is
in the periphery
but it also works in the fovea.
By Whom? This illusion was discovered
by Ladan Shams, Yukiyasu
Kamitani, and Shinsuke
Shimojo.
How? To see how it works first hand, you
can run the Quicktime movies below. Here is how it works: the eye
icon is the fixation point (i.e., where you are supposed to look at). The movie
on the left is the illusion demo and the one on the right is just there
for comparison. In both the left and right hand side movies the visual
stimulus is the same--a single flash. In the left-hand-side movie two
beeps accompany the flash whereas on the right-hand-side the flash
is accompanied with one beep. Since the visual and auditory stimuli are
very brief, the flash and/or the beep may be skipped by Quicktime. If so,
do not despair ;-), try again.
Double Beep
Single Beep
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