How did the characters from the Harry Potter saga manage to cross the wall of platform 9 and 3/4 of King’s Cross station in London? It could be magic, but it could also be an optical illusion, as the winner of the Best Illusion of the Year 2023 contest shows us. This awardorganized by neuroscientists the Neuronal Correlation Society with the support of the Museum of Illusions, it has celebrated its 18th annual edition. The best three have been chosen openly on the web by fans of these optical illusions, but they did so among “a select group of ten finalists, previously selected by an international committee of impartial illusion experts,” according to the organization.
The three most voted correspond to that recreation of the magical platform, some enigmatic towers and a curious portrait of a woman who keeps moving her face at us. The winners receive something more than the joy of leaving the spectators with their mouths open: the first prize takes $3,000 (about 2,800 euros), the second $2,000 and the third $1,000. This annual contest aims to “promote public awareness of perceptual and cognitive research.”
in this link You can see the ten finalists chosen by the specialists. Below are the videos with the three winners, together with the description given by the jury and the explanation of the authors of the illusions.
First prize. To Matt Pritchard, an illusionist from the UK, for his stunning illusion Platform 9 and 3/4. Inspired by the Harry Potter universe, this anamorphic illusion shows a toy car and LEGO figures seemingly breaking through a solid brick wall.
Author Description: The illusion consists of a LEGO car driving through a solid wall. There is actually a car-sized hole in the middle of the wall for the toy to go through. The empty space of the bricks is replaced by an anamorphic illusion on the ground behind the wall. When viewed from a specific perspective, the vertical and horizontal bricks line up and appear to form a single solid wall. The pattern camouflages the edges and makes it extremely difficult to distinguish any discontinuities.
Second place. For John Salmon, from Brigham Young University in the United States, whose illusion Tower of cubes? surprised the experts. In this illusion, two perfectly identical 3D-printed towers of cubes were revealed to be much more different than they first appeared.
Author Description: in the illusion Tower of Cubes?, the viewer is shown a stack or tower created with three 3D printed perfect cubes on the left, next to a tower on the right. Once assembled, a straight wooden rod is inserted through the tower on the left, from top to bottom. The rod is also inserted through the tower of cubes on the right, but now it appears to bend around the structure in an amazing and impossible way. The illusion is resolved by disassembling the tower on the right, revealing distorted 3D-printed cubes that are far from perfect.
Third award. Deservedly won by Wendy van Boxtel, a Dutch artist currently residing in Virginia, USA. His work Cornelia is a sculpture that plays with the illusion of the hollow mask, where a woman’s face and hair gradually emerge from a painting.
Author’s description: After discovering hollow mask illusions, I became obsessed with creating an inside-out sculpture where the face and hair gradually emerged from the painting, in order to create a custom illusion that would capture people’s attention. I experimented with many materials, colors, and depth, and after several tries, I found a method that worked. You might think that it would fool everyone’s eyes, but not exactly. People who have schizophrenia manifest a disconnect between what the eyes see and what the brain thinks, and are unable to perceive the illusion.
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