Notes on the Illusions - Java Puzzlers: Traps, Pitfalls, and Corner Cases - page 330

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Anomalous Motion Illusions
Anomalous motion illusions are drawings whose components appear to move. The MacKay's Rays
illusion (page 203) was described by Donald MacKay in 1957. Figure-eight patterns appear to move
about the drawing as you scan over it with your eyes. The drawings on pages 47, 192, and 230 are
based on the MacKay's Squares illusion , described by MacKay in 1961. The figure appears to blink
as you look at it. This illusion forms the basis of Reginald Neal's op art prints Square of Three
(1964) and Square of Two (1965).
The Ouchi illusion (page 173) was devised by artist Hajime Ouchi in 1973 [Ouchi77] . The inset
appears to be on a different plane from the main figure, and to vibrate.
The Scintillating Grid illusion (page 161) was discovered by Elke Lingelbach in 1994 [Schrauf97] .
Black spots appear to sparkle in the white disks where the grid lines meet.
The drawing on page 96 is based on Kitaoka's Waves illusions (2004). Gentle waves appear to
undulate through the circles. The Rotating Snakes illusion (page 136) was devised by Kitaoka in
2003. If you haven't seen the original, you owe it to yourself to visit
http://www.psy.ritsumei.ac.jp/~akitaoka/rotsnakee.html . The effect is breathtaking. Both waves and
rotating snakes are based on the stepwise luminance profile variant of the Peripheral Drift illusion
[Kitaoka03b] .
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