Illusion Confusion

### Cold Open

"3D or not 3D? That is the question. But does 3D even exist or is it all in your head? We live in a 3-dimensional world. Every object we encounter has height, width and depth. If your brain was unable to perceive the world in 3D, you wouldn't be able to do this or this. 3D makes all the difference between a world with real depth and a world where you're flat as a pancake. It seems like almost every week Hollywood releases another 3D film and while the technology for making 3D continues to improve, the most amazing fact is that we can seven see 3D at all. I mean, consider what's happening: everything we call sight is just your brain's interpretation of light entering through the low resolution 2D cameras we call our eyes, so how do we even see 3D?"

## Games

### Game #1: The Dragon

Keep your eyes on the dragon. Is he looking at you too? It's not a visual effect.

Result: It's just some cardboard.

How: It's a six foot dragon with no moving parts, so how is it tripping you out as the camera moves? It has to do with your brain's interpretation of a face. Your brain receives visual cues and builds a 3D image in your mind. But those visual cues can lead you astray. However, when you brain receives enough info to make a face, it turns something concave into something convex.

### Game #2: Touch

Put your two index fingers up. Then touch them together. Try to do the same thing with one eye closed.

Result: Most people fail.

Why: When in reality, we don't see true 3D. It's a construct our brain makes for us. The reason we see it around us at all is so we can interact with the world, not bump into it. But there's difficulty projecting it. The reason why is because our retina is 2-dimensional. Then how do we turn a 2D input into a 3D world?

### Mini-Game: Bowl

To answer that, take a look at pins.

Result: Your left and right eyes see different things. This is why you messed up in the previous game.

So: When your brain combines the two, you see where the objects actually are. This is called Stereoscopic vision.

### Mini-Game:

Look at the two images that are 2D. How can we make them 3D?

Result: By alternating between the two.

So: The difference makes your brain interpret depth. But you also use other cues, like shading.

### Game #3: The Room

Take a look at the room. What's off?

Result: Was your brain fooled? If so, here's why.

Why: Because when you look through your TV screen, you can't perceive depth correctly.

### Game #4: Room Service

Keep an eye out for anything out of the ordinary in the food.

Result: It turns flat when we turn it around.

Why: What you're seeing is an Anamorphic Illusion, and it takes advantage of the way your brain builds 2D to build a 3D world. Each image seems stretched out of proportion, but by making it match the angle the photo was taken, the perspective cues line up and you seem to be looking at a 3D object. Just like with the dragon, your brain made an assumption.

### Game #5: Big

Which creature is bigger?

Result: They're the same size. And the trick worked every time.

Why: The creature that appears higher seems bigger, because it fills more of our visual field because your brain is so conditioned to turn 2D into 3D that it makes incorrect assumptions. The farther away an object is, the smaller it appears. But because it was higher, it assumes that one was bigger when they looked the same to begin with.

### Game #6: X-Ray Vision

Hold your pointer finger in front of your face and stare at it. Then shift your gaze to the TV screen while staring.

Result: You could read the message as you stared through your finger.

Why: Because you have eyes in the front of your head. Using both eyes at the same time, you see two perspectives.

### Game #7: Football Flash of the Future

Guess where the football is when you see a flash.

Result: No matter how many times you guess wrong, you can't win this game.

Why: Your brain can see into the future. It takes your brain a tenth of a second to interpret information coming at it. So what you're seeing, has already happened. To make up for the time delay, your brain predicts the future to perceive the present. And it is so skilled at this. But when you add a flash, you have no idea where the football is, and by the time you've processed it, the football has passed the flash point. And it doesn't matter your age.

## List of Experts

* Dr. Mark Changizi
* Apollo Robbins(Deception Specialist)