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Up arrowOptical illusion

Answer

  

Does size matter

What do you see?

A big monster chasing a little monster? Take a closer look. The monsters are identical in size.

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Shown here is a two-dimensional black and white drawing of one monster chasing another monster down a stone tunnel. To give the impression of distance within the tunnel, the lines of its floor, walls and ceiling converge at a point in the distance (behind the chasing monster at the back of the picture). The first impression is that the monster that is at the forefront of the picture is being chased by a much larger creature but, in fact, both are exactly the same size. This is because as the lines of the tunnel walls disappear into the distance, so they are closer together, giving the chasing monster the appearance of being proportionally bigger than the stone segments at the back of the picture than those towards the front where the monster that is being chased is running.

For a description of the image place your cursor over it (certain browsers only), or click here for an audio transcript.

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