The Double Ring Illusion shows that *physics* is integrated in our visual system!
Our paper pushes this illusion a lot further in various ways: adding other cues to compete with solidity, generalizing to other displays, etc. Check it out in JEP:G! doi.org/10.1037/xge0....
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Is this percept actually explained by the proximity of the rings? Have a look at these gapped rings.
If you’re like most people, the unstable percept is restored – because the gaps remove the possibility of solidity violation.
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This suggests that the visual system ‘knows’ that objects cannot pass through each other (i.e. ‘solidity’ constraint), thus ‘forcing’ you to predominantly see the motion that respects solidity (180° co-rotation), rather than the motion that violates it (360° co-rotation)!
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How about in this case?
Surprisingly, most people *predominantly see 180° motion*, while 360° motion is hardly, if ever, perceived – even though the rings move in the same way as above!
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How do the rings appear to move, if you fixate on the cross?
For most people, the rings move sometimes in 180° co-rotations (‘flipping’ back and forth), sometimes in 360° co-rotations. This multistable percept is normal, since the stimuli are ambiguous.
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New paper: the ‘Double Ring Illusion’!
Does the visual system integrate *intuitive physics*? This new illusion developed by Brent Strickland and I offers a straightforward demonstration – one that you can experience yourselves!
Demos in thread👇
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Me please, thanks!

I just discovered a thing called "hot chocolate with marshmallows" yesterday 😵