Awesome Illusions

When an airplane encounters just the right weather conditions, its wingtips and propellers can generate visible patterns in the air. Redditor cburnett shared this wild footage of the patterns made by the four props on a Hercules C-130. A google search for “propeller vortexes” turns up more incredible images of the phenomenon.

John Muntean shows off his amazing LEGO shadow sculptures, each of which looks like an amorphous blob, but casts shadows of three distinct images as it’s rotated through a beam of light. After DragonButterflyJet, be sure to check out KnightMermaidPirateShip and ABC.

Game developer Matt Stark posted this mindbender of a video which uses computer graphics trickery to make it look like virtual Polaroid photos are portals to other environments. It’s a wild effect, and could be a very cool gameplay mechanic if incorporated into a video game.

Recently seen in a much larger version, this intriguing piece of plastic distorts light in order to make objects placed behind it look like they’re invisible. NightHawkInLight goes beyond the wow factor to explain how the prisms in this fresnel lens work their magic. If you want to play with a Lubor’s lens, you can find a bunch on Amazon.

Among the entries in the 2019 Best Illusion of the Year contest is this little gem from optical illusion expert Kokichi Sugihara. This uniquely-designed object looks like a bird, and regardless of how many times you turn it, it always faces right.

Scientists from the University of Sussex are developing a method of displaying 3D tactile images using ultrasonic waves. The system works by levitating a small plastic bead and rapidly maneuvering it to create a persistence of vision effect. If they can move more dots or move them faster, they could create more complex images.

British/American artist Anthony James creates amazing sculptures which use a series of LED lights and mirrored glass panels to create an illusion of infinite depth inside of 3D polygonal structures. This GIF really captures the illusion well.

Over the years, Dave of sheepfilms has created some pretty wild short animations, among them this trippy loop that makes it look like a package that’s being delivered contains the front door into which it is being delivered. Lather, rinse, repeat.

Magician and video illusionist Zach King shows off a variety of fun optical tricks with furniture that isn’t ever quite what it seems. Unlike some of Zach’s other videos, the effects are all done in camera, using some truly unusual props.

Canadian camouflage experts Hyperstealth Biotechnology has recently applied for patents on their technology which can bend light around an object to make it vanish from sight when placed in its sweet spot. The paper-thin screen could be used to hide military targets from ground-level threats. More on Vimeo.

Reminiscent of the best in-camera visual trickery of the mighty Michel Gondry, director Oscar Hudson’s incredible music video for Bonobo and Nick Murphy’s chillwave track was created using forced perspectives with “a very small camera… and a very big set.”

Intrigued by slow motion visuals? Wonder Machines‘ unusual picture frame makes real world objects appear to move in slow motion. Designed by artist and inventor Jeff Lieberman (Time Warp), the device appears to use some sort of nearly imperceptible vibrations to pull off its trickery.

Kevin Lustgarten shares a reel of some of his many clever and brain-bending scenes he’s created over the years. Most of the trickery is done with digital visual effects, but the resulting imagery is still really entertaining.

Remi Devouassoud’s visually stunning CG animated short presents us with an image which plays with our minds. Are we looking at another universe, or an up-close image of a human eye? Or is it both?

This 3D-painted anamorphic illusion by artist Leon Keer will mess with your head. Watch as a toddler drives her mini car into the middle of what appear to be a stack of giant Hot Wheels cars. Be sure to check out more of his amazing imagery on Instagram.

Captain Disillusion investigates those videos that show what appears to be water frozen in time, and demonstrating something known in science as “laminar flow.” It doesn’t take the Cap’n long to replicate the effect himself, but is it real or fake?