Is this dancer spinning or not? No, the "movement" is implied by the shifting contrast of the edges and contours. The illusion titled The Static Spin by Saleeta Qadir and Bernhard Egger of Germany won first prize in the Best Illusion of the Year competition. The contest from the Neural Correlate Society has been awarding mind-bending visual and cognitive illusions and the creative people behind them since 2005. The organizers spent all of 2024 gathering submissions, which were winnowed down by a group of experts to ten finalists. The voting public, meaning illusion fans, got to vote for their favorite from those ten finalists, and the winners were just announced today. The second place prize was won by Duška Milosavljević of Serbia for the illusion titled "Dollusion."
Sure, it's a special effect, the kind they once used in movies. But it's all happening at once, and they eventually show us how it's done. Third prize went to Hiroaki Hamanaka, Ryohei Miki, and Kyota Yamamoto for their illusion titled Tri-form Prism. You can see all ten 2024 finalists in a gallery here.
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