Is The Dress Blue or White? Why The Internet Just Lost Its Mind
- Thread starter Fanghawk
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Can we be the chosen two??? I'm also definitely a night owl. But I draw and paint and do digital art too - so maybe I've trained myself to see what's really happening with color? I definitely missed out on all of the hullabaloo, but this is a nifty little illusion if it is working on so many people. I shall now pester a couple of friends with this.Fanghawk said:
I might be able to explain it a bit.garjian said:
When I saw it it looked gold and light blue to me. However, it was the same sort of "glowy" light blue that I see when white t-shirts are worn around black lights or bad flourescent lights, therefore, in my mind, even though I saw a light blue I was saying in my mind "it's white that's being affected by lighting in some way".
Or, as another example, it looks like a snow-blue or glacier-blue. When you look at a snow drift or a glacier you see a blueish color, but we know of course that snow is white and so when we see that shade of blue it's easy in our minds to convince ourselves it's white.
That's my take on it.
This is all very fascinating. Neuroscientists have weighted in and think it's because of the brains top down processing method. This is very similar to the Adleson Checkerboard illusion. Basically, your brain perceives signals from the world around based on experiences. I see a white dress with gold, but the white looks like it's in a shadow and the material is slightly reflective. Some people see blue and black, but the blue portion is not reflective at all.
It has nothing to do with anyone's eyes. The eyes don't see, the mind sees, but the eyes are the sense organ for it. I also think it could have directly to do with the environment one is seeing from. I forget exactly what the phenomenon is called but it works like this: Your brain has neurons that do very very specialized things. That said, it has neurons that specifically put together images using specific colors. If you are in an environment where the neurons are worked a lot they actually get tired. Then you see something that works the others. These neurons are in a tug of war with each other when they do opposite things. Due to the fatigue of them being worked, when you see something of a specific opposite then the rested neurons actually are more effective at pulling that rope, so now you see something a different way due to the neurons who are rested now winning that tug of war.
The above is also why you experience a phenomenon called "updrift" after watching something stream downward and you look away. It was probably the most famous sensation from Guitar Hero that was not intended.
Remember, your neurons are always in a tug of war, and this will change your perception of how things appear.
It has nothing to do with anyone's eyes. The eyes don't see, the mind sees, but the eyes are the sense organ for it. I also think it could have directly to do with the environment one is seeing from. I forget exactly what the phenomenon is called but it works like this: Your brain has neurons that do very very specialized things. That said, it has neurons that specifically put together images using specific colors. If you are in an environment where the neurons are worked a lot they actually get tired. Then you see something that works the others. These neurons are in a tug of war with each other when they do opposite things. Due to the fatigue of them being worked, when you see something of a specific opposite then the rested neurons actually are more effective at pulling that rope, so now you see something a different way due to the neurons who are rested now winning that tug of war.
The above is also why you experience a phenomenon called "updrift" after watching something stream downward and you look away. It was probably the most famous sensation from Guitar Hero that was not intended.
Remember, your neurons are always in a tug of war, and this will change your perception of how things appear.
I've only been able to see it as blue and black (although black could be interpreted as dark gold/brown because of the light on it). Usually with optical illusion if I close my eyes for a few seconds and open them again I get the other one but this is always blue and black to me. All 3 of the images look blue and black, the one on the left just looks washed out. One of my friends insisted it was white and gold yesterday but the Photoshop eyedropper doesn't lie!
Edit: quoted the wrong person, oh well
What a load of horse shit. Of course someone would try to take credit for this and make it out like it was an experiment. It's just a badly taken photo.Skeleon said:EDIT:Wow, what pop-psy nonsense.circularlogic88 said:...
Edit: quoted the wrong person, oh well
Turns out it was basically just viral marketing. There really are two different dresses, one white, one blue. My guess is through careful use of lighting and editing, they managed to trick the Internet that 'OMG! The dress changes color!Lightknight said:
And then their online orders jumped some 300%+ over night.
Wow. I got a perfect score. Interesting.
Shame my vision's so terrible. Seriously, I wear the almost literal equivalent of "coke-bottle glasses".
Anyway, as to the topic at hand:
I don't get it. I mean, I understand the logistics of optical illusions, but the image clearly shows the dress as blue and black, with light reflections making small areas of the black seem "gold".
I dunno. I just fail to see how anyone, barring artificial color correction or poorly configured viewing screens, could see the dress as white and gold.
Either way, for the internet to blow up over something as moronically mundane as this, leaves me feeling far more misanthropic than usual.
Nope. I've seen the same picture on the same monitor with my sister. Firt we both saw it as gold and white, then the screen jolted for a moment (stupid touchpad), and by the time I scrolled it back, she was swearing it must a different, black and dark blue picture, while I was still seeing the white and gold version.Lightknight said:
Also, even with that three part edit, some people are swearing that ALL of those three are white and gold only with shades cast over the latter two, or ALL are blue and black, only the first two are oversaturated.
I scored a 4, which seems pretty good.Eclipse Dragon said:
Initially the dress looked white and gold. Now after taking that test, it's obviously blue and black. wierd
The funny thing is, when I first saw the picture (someone showing it around work on their phone) I could see both white-and gold AND blue-and-black. It seemed to vary depending on just where I focused my eyes on the image.
Also, I'm amused how many people will say "Well, I see it this way, and so obviously that's what it is, and anyone who says otherwise is just stupid".
Also, I'm amused how many people will say "Well, I see it this way, and so obviously that's what it is, and anyone who says otherwise is just stupid".
