"Hollow Mask Illusion" and Autism

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All of them look convex to me.

when it first turned, I saw the hollow inversion but then the inside of the mask seemed to pop out again....creepy

I can see it both ways depending on how I want to see it. I think it works because of the way the shadows can really go either way and it's two-dimensional. I think I've seen similar things with non-face objects where you can't tell whether they stick in or stick out when shown as a picture on a flat surface.

Where's the research?

exactly. I was also able to consciously switch it back and forth from face to hollow.

That. The illusion only exists when the mask is viewed from limited set of angles. In the 3-d rendered one, there is a much wider range of angles than in videos of real masks.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cHGqTClu6tU&NR=1&feature=fvwp[/youtube]

I would hazard that face-blindness is not connected, as this one is supposed to also work. I get the same effect with it -- it only looks convex for one step of the camera-man's movements. It's supposed to give the impression that the house is rotating to face the viewer as he walks by. I managed to experience that effect after watching it several times.

It is definitely not face-blindness for this. It's lighting. If the light was at a different angle, this wouldn't work as well. The shadows are just the inverse of the convex, because of that the areas that are concave, have a whiter tone, so your mind processes them as being extrusions. Colors that are darker ie. the black shadows, are processed as being intrusions.

Exactly. It is just an optical illusion due to shadows etc, as Coldkick says.

Anyone looked at the dragon illusion too? I watched the video http://www.grand-illusions.com/opticali ... e_dragons/

update: I just watched the house illusion too, it is similar to the dragon except the dragon seems to be looking at you

If I just watch the video, the mask looks hollow to me. But if I concentrate, I can make it look like a "normal" face to me. I have found that I am getting better at the latter the older I get, so I think that I am learning to somehow simulate what I think I ought to be seing. This is happening with several other optical illusions as well. When I was younger, I couldn't figure them out, but by now I know how they ought to work and I can make myself see what most people see.

After looking at the dragon video I started looking at the other illusions they have on that website, they are amazing.

I just looked at this one too, you have to look at the black dot on the building, and then the image changes to black and white but until you look away from the dot you are supposed to see the image still in color http://www.grand-illusions.com/opticali ... _illusion/

In the first link I provided, in the comments section of the article, the inability to see the illusion was self reported among the "faceblind". I found a few sketchy case studies and self reports on the internet of other "faceblind" people with the inability to see the illusion. "Faceblindness" is a condition that is common in Autism and Schizophrenia".

I became interested in the possible relationship between Autism, "Faceblindness", and the inability to see the illusion.

There is compelling research that schizophrenic people cannot see the illusion.

I found one source of research: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1469-7610.1996.tb01483.x/abstract, that suggests a relationship between autism and difficulty seeing illusion.

I wanted to see if there was any correlation of this relationsip among the people using this forum.

Last edited by aghogday on 05 Dec 2010, 4:24 pm, edited 1 time in total.

I see it in black and white.

I was expecting to see a mask turned inside out, sorta, and then I saw this face that looked exactly like the face on the mask I just saw! It was very weird.

Interesting article here too Hollow Mask Illusion Fails To Fool Schizophrenia Patients

I can only see the face as concave when it's at an oblique angle. As soon as I can see both eyes it pops into a convex face rotating the opposite direction. I can't process a concave face straight on no matter how hard I try.