Is The Dress Blue or White? Why The Internet Just Lost Its Mind

Fanghawk

New member
Feb 17, 2011
3,861
0
0
Is The Dress Blue or White? Why The Internet Just Lost Its Mind

Why does this dress look white one moment, and blue the next? Your friends aren't crazy - there's some legitimately cool visual science happening behind the scenes.

We like to think our eyes can be trusted above all else, even when science shows <a href=http://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/scienceandtech/columns/forscience/12606-Facts-about-Frame-Rates>they are confused by simple visual tricks. But if you were spending time on social media last night, you know that "the dress" sowed confusion and madness on a scale even the most rational individuals couldn't process. In case you missed the chaos (you lucky soul), it all started with a picture of a blue and black dress... Or was it white and gold? That's the problem: The exact same picture shows different colors depending on the viewer - even if two people are looking at the exact same screen.

First of all, you're not losing your mind and your friends aren't trying to trick you - it really is possible to see two different colors here. Second, the dress is actually blue and black, no matter how insistently your eyes say otherwise.

So what's happening? Well, it's an incredibly specific flaw in the way our eyes interpret color. We see color when light hits the retina, setting off neural connections in the visual cortex before interpreting it as an image. The problem is that your brain doesn't actually want to see everything - it only wants to see light reflecting off objects, not the illuminating light that surround us at all times. To get around the problem, the brain filters the color of illuminating light hitting your retina so you only see the color of objects. This is why everything around you doesn't look like an insane white mess after you switch on a lightbulb.

But this picture - or more specifically, the background illumination - breaks the context for how our brain processes these colors. "What's happening here is your visual system is looking at this thing, and you're trying to discount the chromatic bias of the daylight axis," Wellesley College neuroscientist Bevil Conway told Wired. "So people either discount the blue side, in which case they end up seeing white and gold, or discount the gold side, in which case they end up with blue and black."

If you were to photoshop the picture to have a dark background - or printed it off and cut out a sample - you'd have a better context for what the actual dress looks like. But as it stands, our visual perceptions vary greatly based on our personal context - to the point that the dress might change color as we look at it. Conway even suggested people who see white prefer the daylight illumination context, while blue favors nighttime light. "I bet night owls are more likely to see it as blue-black," he continued.

It's still an incredibly unique case - one that will probably become more common now that we've discovered the trick. But in the meantime, we can remember Feb 26 2015 as the day the internet completely lost its mind over a dress. Don't forget to tell your grandchildren where you were during this historic event.

I mean, <a href=http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/139959-FCC-Approves-Net-Neutrality-Rules-Municipal-Broadband>it's not like anything important was happening.

Editor's Note: An earlier version of this story said the dress was blue and gold, which was a misreading of one of the quotes from our source. The dress is actually blue and black and the story has been updated. We blame the llamas.

Source: Wired

Permalink
 

soren7550

Overly Proud New Yorker
Dec 18, 2008
5,477
0
0
It's things like this happening concurrently with people going ape over two llamas on the loose on the same day that makes me question this whole 'existence' thing we've got going on.
 

Eclipse Dragon

Lusty Argonian Maid
Legacy
Jan 23, 2009
4,259
12
43
Country
United States
"So people either discount the blue side, in which case they end up seeing white and gold, or discount the gold side, in which case they end up with blue and black."
So what am I doing when I see blue and gold?

It's a fun little eye experiment, but did people seriously lose their shit over this?


Edit: For anybody who wants to test they're eyes to see how well they see color and in what areas they may be lacking. The Online Color Challenge [http://www.xrite.com/online-color-test-challenge] is a fun thing to do when you're bored.
 

Fanghawk

New member
Feb 17, 2011
3,861
0
0
Eclipse Dragon said:
"So people either discount the blue side, in which case they end up seeing white and gold, or discount the gold side, in which case they end up with blue and black."
So what am I doing when I see blue and gold?
Blue and gold are the correct dress colors. You are the chosen one.
 

dalek sec

Leader of the Cult of Skaro
Jul 20, 2008
10,237
0
0
soren7550 said:
It's things like this happening concurrently with people going ape over two llamas on the loose on the same day that makes me question this whole 'existence' thing we've got going on.
This is why I just stay in my own little world and either read, play games or paint my necron models.

I can't find the words to describe my contempt for the people wasting their time on this stuff.
 

Jadak

New member
Nov 4, 2008
2,136
0
0
I don't care what colour the dress actually is, but that picture is blue and gold.
 

Eclipse Dragon

Lusty Argonian Maid
Legacy
Jan 23, 2009
4,259
12
43
Country
United States
Fanghawk said:
Eclipse Dragon said:
"So people either discount the blue side, in which case they end up seeing white and gold, or discount the gold side, in which case they end up with blue and black."
So what am I doing when I see blue and gold?
Blue and gold are the correct dress colors. You are the chosen one.
All those years of art school payed off. It's a shame they're also making me nearsighted.
Wonderful color vision, but only for as long as I actually have vision.
 

The_Darkness

New member
Nov 8, 2010
546
0
0
I'm disappointed. All these people who seem to be having it change colour every time they look at it, and for me it's staying at a definite blue and dark gold. I'm having difficulty even imagining seeing that as white.
(I mean, the background's clearly white, and the dress isn't the same colour as that, so it can't be white. How can you see it as white?!)

Though the xkcd comic (http://xkcd.com/1492/) provided me with a good idea of what it's probably like...
 

PointlessKnowledge

It Can Wait Til Morning
Legacy
Sep 8, 2014
1,109
64
53
Country
Canada
Gender
Male
I think the dress is blue and gold. Don't think that helps at all or anything.
 

Silentpony_v1legacy

Alleged Feather-Rustler
Jun 5, 2013
6,760
0
0
I don't get it. I saw Blue and gold instantly, showed it to my roommate, he say blue/gold and then his girlfriend also saw blue/gold(Although to be fair she said either gold or metallic yellow)
You guys sure this isn't just a taco news that got you? That the joke is there is no joke? That it's just a picture of a dress and someone is telling you it changes colors.
 

Jadedvet

New member
Jul 1, 2013
48
0
0
I saw this on television at my dad's house and it was clearly gold and white. On my TV, which is mirroring my monitor, it is blue and brown/gold. On my monitor, I get a muddy blue and gold.

Science nothing, this is obviously an enchantment of some sort.
 

IceForce

Is this memes?
Legacy
Dec 11, 2012
2,384
16
13
You sure someone hasn't just invented a new jpeg format that's able to alter its colors when you're not looking?

You know, a bit like .gif, but more subtle.
 

Lightknight

Mugwamp Supreme
Nov 26, 2008
4,860
0
0
I think the images that we're shown differ. This one looks blue with darker gold/tan/black. The one I was shown this morning looked absolutely white and gold. I think some people are seeing a white-balanced version of this picture:

http://www.wired.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/Untitled-12.jpg

The one I was shown first was the one on the far left. That still looks mostly white (but light blue) and gold while the middle one is clearly blue and black (or dark gold like it appears around the neck).
 

lacktheknack

Je suis joined jewels.
Jan 19, 2009
19,316
0
0
IceForce said:
You sure someone hasn't just invented a new jpeg format that's able to alter its colors when you're not looking?

You know, a bit like .gif, but more subtle.
After about two hours of study and concentration (what has my life degenerated to), I am finally able to "flip the switch" that lets me see one color scheme or the other without moving the picture offscreen.

So nope... it's a hell of an optical illusion.
 

lacktheknack

Je suis joined jewels.
Jan 19, 2009
19,316
0
0
Lightknight said:
I think the images that we're shown differ. This one looks blue with darker gold/tan/black. The one I was shown this morning looked absolutely white and gold. I think some people are seeing a white-balanced version of this picture:

http://www.wired.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/Untitled-12.jpg

The one I was shown first was the one on the far left. That still looks mostly white (but light blue) and gold while the middle one is clearly blue and black (or dark gold like it appears around the neck).
No, you weren't. I thought that too, but then I went and compared the three pics to the pic that was first sent around, and it really is the one in the middle.

And more than half the Brovengers saw the middle picture as white and gold, myself included. xD

Try covering the left and right pictures alternately with your hand, and the middle dress changes colors.
 

Fanghawk

New member
Feb 17, 2011
3,861
0
0
Lightknight said:
I think the images that we're shown differ. This one looks blue with darker gold/tan/black. The one I was shown this morning looked absolutely white and gold. I think some people are seeing a white-balanced version of this picture:

http://www.wired.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/Untitled-12.jpg

The one I was shown first was the one on the far left. That still looks mostly white (but light blue) and gold while the middle one is clearly blue and black (or dark gold like it appears around the neck).
Some altered images have been popping up to highlight the difference, but there's definitely an optical illusion happening here.

Last night my wife and I were almost banging heads because we saw completely different colors from the exact same image. I already knew it about it from earlier in the day, but she had to confront the reality that either her eyes were lying to her, or her husband was.
 

Teoes

Poof, poof, sparkles!
Jun 1, 2010
5,174
0
0
lacktheknack said:
IceForce said:
You sure someone hasn't just invented a new jpeg format that's able to alter its colors when you're not looking?

You know, a bit like .gif, but more subtle.
After about two hours of study and concentration (what has my life degenerated to), I am finally able to "flip the switch" that lets me see one color scheme or the other without moving the picture offscreen.
Thems legit superpowers there, bro. You need a name and a costume. The nemesis will follow.
 

lacktheknack

Je suis joined jewels.
Jan 19, 2009
19,316
0
0
Teoes said:
lacktheknack said:
IceForce said:
You sure someone hasn't just invented a new jpeg format that's able to alter its colors when you're not looking?

You know, a bit like .gif, but more subtle.
After about two hours of study and concentration (what has my life degenerated to), I am finally able to "flip the switch" that lets me see one color scheme or the other without moving the picture offscreen.
Thems legit superpowers there, bro. You need a name and a costume. The nemesis will follow.
And what the heck is my nemesis going to do?

Make me wear dresses of indeterminate color?
 

ThreeKneeNick

New member
Aug 4, 2009
741
0
0
It looks bluer on my phone than it does on my PC. So the screen you view it on can affect your perception as well.