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Monday, July 11, 2005
Do It Yourself: Dragon whose head follows you around the room
The Grand Illusions site has a free download of this cut-and-paste folded paper dragon whose head follows you as you move around the room. Here's the one I made--the printable image is in colour, but I don't have a colour printer. I found that it took a while before my brain blanked out its knowledge of the three dimensional structure and saw the illusion. It also helped to place the dragon above eye level in a location with a textured background behind it, such as curtains or window blinds. Once the illusion kicks in, it is striking; note that the dragon's head nods up and down as well as moves side to side. This is a simplified version of the concave mask illusion where a face seems to follow your motion.
Hat tip to Warren Bell on NRO's Corner.
Posted at July 11, 2005 16:31