Troje NF, McAdam M. The viewing-from-above bias and the silhouette illusion.
Iperception 2010;
1:143-8. [PMID:
23145219 PMCID:
PMC3485768 DOI:
10.1068/i0408]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 25] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/09/2010] [Revised: 11/13/2010] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
The silhouette illusion published online a number of years ago by the Japanese Flash designer Nobuyuki Kayahara has received substantial attention from the online community. One feature that seems to make it interesting is an apparent rotational bias: Observers see it spinning more often clockwise than counter-clockwise. Here, we show that this rotational bias is in fact due to the visual system's preference for viewpoints from above rather than from below.
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