Dancing imagery

To most people looking at this image, the sphere filled with burgundy-coloured hexagons appears to continuously roll to the right around a purple-hexagon pillar. Created by Yurii Perepadia, a graphic designer and illustrator from Ukraine, the image is a perfect example of illusory motion. One thing you will notice about this type of physiological optical illusion is that they normally have sections of white incorporated into the pattern. In this case the hexagons which seem to move to the right have white sections lining their right-hand side, while those appearing to move to the left have white lining their left. Scientists believe that as the lightest shade, white turns our eyes’ receptors ‘on’. With these light edges positioned next to the contrasting dark edges, photoreceptors bounce between the two in a flickering sensation, which the brain interprets as motion.

The best way to slow down the motion is to intently stare at one hexagon