Orbison illusion

Orbison illusion consisting of a square placed over radial lines.

The Orbison illusion (or Orbison's illusion) is an optical illusion first described by American psychologist William Orbison (1912–1952)^[1] in 1939.

Description

The Orbison illusion consists of a two dimensional figure, such as a circle or square, superimposed over a background of radial lines or concentric circles. The result is an optical illusion in which both the figure and the rectangle which contains it appear to distorted; in particular, squares appear slightly bulged, circles appear elliptical, and the containing rectangle appears tilted.^[2][3]

References

Footnotes

1. Roeckelein, Jon E. (2006). Elsevier's Dictionary of Psychological Theories. Amsterdam: Elsevier. p. 651. ISBN 9780444517500.
2. "Orbison illusion". newworldencyclopedia.org. New World Encyclopedia. Retrieved June 30, 2016.
3. "Orbison illusion". opticalillusions.info. Retrieved June 30, 2016.

General References

• Fineman, Mark (1996). The Nature of Visual Illusion. Dover Publications. pp. 152–153. ISBN 0486291057.
• Robinson, J.O. (1998). The Psychology of Visual Illusion. Dover Publications. pp. 72–73. ISBN 978-0486404493.