Social media users on Twitter and Facebook are circulating a controversial image. Some entertainment fanpages have boldly posed questions related to this image. This has directly sparked speculation and debate regarding its authenticity. In reality, this is just an optical illusion image, and it is not a photograph of a real scene. It originates from Akiyoshi Kitaoka, a psychologist who specializes in studying optical illusions, currently working at Ritsumeikan University (Kyoto, Japan), who shared it on Twitter.
It should be noted that optical illusions are a widely used technique in design and painting to create images that can deceive the viewer’s eyes. The image highlights two cars with controversial sizes created by Kitaoka himself. When netizens glance at it, they will assert that the car behind is bigger than the one in front. But the truth is quite harsh: their sizes are actually equal.
Some netizens disagreed with the “equal” perspective and tried to print the controversial image on paper. They then cropped the image and compared the sizes of the two cars. The results astonished many, as the image of the car behind fit perfectly onto the car in front.
So what is the reason that most netizens were deceived and insist that “the car behind is bigger than the car in front?” The answer lies in the phenomenon of distance illusion. When a regular person looks at the overall picture, they see both the cars and the lines on the road. Among them, the lines are what directly deceive the vision. Simply removing these lines will show that both cars are of equal size.
Akiyoshi Kitaoka also shared another optical illusion image. The angle and scenery of the two parallel walls are the reason why netizens continue to perceive the doll behind as bigger than the one in front. Observers just need to cover the two walls with their hands to see the truth.