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MIT-led team creates touch-based illusion

web.mit.edu — Anyone who has seen an optical illusion can recall the quirky moment when you realize that the image being perceived is different from objective reality. Now, a team of scientists from MIT, Harvard and McGill has designed a new illusion involving the sense of touch, which is helping to glean new insights into perception and how different senses--su

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  • fuckingusername, on 07/21/2008, -7/+2another National Enquirer moment
  • Dopeness, on 07/21/2008, -4/+6This will be amazing for porno movies :D
  • disrupter, on 07/21/2008, -8/+3I'm sorry but I don't find this interesting.
  • leladax, on 07/21/2008, -3/+3VR PORN HERE WE COME.
  • kh99, on 07/21/2008, -4/+26Wow - after staring at the jumping dots for 30 seconds, I suddenly experienced a whole new level of boredom.
  • farkis, on 07/21/2008, -11/+2Here's a touch based illusion:
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fCWmuZRQIsc
    • ledsam, on 07/21/2008, -1/+6Lame.
    • dafragsta, on 07/21/2008, -1/+3Derivative memes will never be tolerated. People just don't like forced sequilized humor.
    • MrTito, on 07/21/2008, -1/+3It's not working.

      I mean, the video is working.

      But your sense of humor isn't.
  • dinostabOMG, on 07/21/2008, -1/+7AGH - you left Digg open as superuser!
    ....oh well.
    rm -rf /
  • RainNIU, on 07/21/2008, -3/+2I'm glad I'm not the only pervert that instantly thought of boobs.
  • Shiftgood, on 07/21/2008, -2/+2like when you stand in the doorway and try and push out with your arms, then move and they lift?
    • Funpolice2050, on 07/22/2008, -0/+1Like when you press your nuckles together and move them apart only to have them attract each other?
  • rhapsody1447, on 07/21/2008, -7/+1***** THING SUCKS!
  • robertawerner, on 07/21/2008, -4/+9Pic or it didn't happen?

    All text? Only an enginerd could get through that.
    • amc1709, on 07/22/2008, -1/+0There's a link to the visual... thingie ... they do, but if you ask me, it still lame and boring.
  • TheTSArt, on 07/21/2008, -2/+10I don't get the four flashing dots "illusion." I kept staring at them but nothing appeared to change like it suggested, they just kept flashing like normal.
    • desertDenizen, on 07/22/2008, -0/+4It didn't happen to me either, until I tried to make it happen, by "expecting" the dots to move clockwise or counter-clockwise, by deliberately moving my focus clockwise around the square as each dot appeared (not sure if that made sense). Once I saw it, I was like, "oh, I get it," and then I could easily make it switch direction, then back to vertical, or horizontal. But after all that, it never flipped all by itself, I had to force it.
    • Stoyanov, on 07/23/2008, -0/+1I only noticed two dots.
  • bjbyrne, on 07/21/2008, -2/+2Most of my illusions already involve a lot of touching.
  • Dohko_Xar, on 07/21/2008, -4/+1Minority Report-style cyber hookers FTW!
  • judicar, on 07/21/2008, -3/+2"touch-based illusion"

    You mean a they created a Samsung Instinct?
  • Mysticode, on 07/21/2008, -0/+2This hurts my eyes a lot!
  • JinnRikki, on 07/21/2008, -2/+2Alternate title for this test - "how to keep an idiot in suspense". Yes I stared at it but never again will I be sucked into these mindless, internet, huh..... what is that, oooh that's so shiny........
  • danblack, on 07/21/2008, -1/+1I also don't see anything. Perhaps the real brain study here is to collect data on how long people will stare at these dots waiting for them to satisfy the instructions despite the fact that they never will.
  • holzp, on 07/22/2008, -2/+2No MIT guys, it still doesn't count unless they are on a REAL woman.
  • powatom, on 07/22/2008, -1/+2Stared at it for about 2 minutes, and then suddenly found I could alter the 'direction' of the changes at will. I was listening to music and could make the dots 'dance' (switch directions, go round in circles etc). Pretty interesting in a mediocre sort of way.
  • Relaxin22, on 07/22/2008, -0/+3What is with all the porn comments? I tried real hard but was unable to connect the article to porn in any way. My guess is those comments correspond to reading only the title and not RTFA.

    As for the illusion they linked, make sure you blink fairly regularly. For me, I would notice a shift right after I would blink. Just relax, blink, and watch. In about a minute or two the dots will seem to move up and down verses left and right.

    For an even better example of an animation relevant to this article see:
    http://www.news.com.au/perthnow/story/0,21598,2249 ...
  • andoru, on 07/22/2008, -0/+3I know another touch-based illusion.

    1. Cross your fingers (index and middle fingers). You want to cross them as far down as possible.
    2. See the little V shape you have now made between your finger tips? Bring your hand to your face so that your nose is in that little V.
    3. Gently move the V up and down your nose.

    After a while, it might begin to feel like you have two noses! (Your brain still thinks the touch signals are coming from opposite sides of your two fingers, which only makes sense if they are between two objects)
  • enshoku, on 07/22/2008, -0/+0Pretty awesome actually. If you point at one dot then follow your finger with your eyes to another corner you can appear to control how the dots are moving, clockwise, counter-clockwise, parallel vertically, or horizontally. After doing that for a few seconds it's possible to do it with only yours eyes and you can alternate each directional change at will.
  • bobdotcom, on 07/22/2008, -0/+1yeah. I just got bored really quick, but even using their "bias" things, everything only appeared to switch between two distinct images for each, No direction whatsoever, just two separate images repeatedly flashing. Maybe i'm just a bad subject.
  • skoober, on 07/22/2008, -0/+2This illusion reminds me of the spinning girl
    http://www.news.com.au/perthnow/story/0,,22492511- ...
  • minsley1021, on 07/22/2008, -0/+1The greatest invention to enter the stoner's dorm since the Virtual Catnip series.
  • QubitTarutaru, on 07/22/2008, -0/+1I can control how I see it, horizontal, vertical, clockwise rotation, counterclockwise rotation, or random... at will, is that normal?
  • eggballs, on 07/22/2008, -1/+1It never really changed direction for me. What did happen, though, is that it appeared to speed up for a split-second and, at one point, it disappeared because my eyes got tired. Also, I really wanted something to happen, like a negative image, when I looked away at my bedroom wall, but I had no suck luck.
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