Illusion

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An illusion is a distortion of the senses, revealing how the brain normally organizes and interprets sensory stimulation. While illusions distort reality, they are generally shared by most people. Illusions may occur with more of the human senses than vision, but visual illusions, optical illusions, are the most well known and understood. The emphasis on visual illusions occurs because vision often dominates the other senses. For example, individuals watching a ventriloquist will perceive the voice is coming from the dummy since they are able to see the dummy mouth the words. Some illusions are based on general assumptions the brain makes during perception. These assumptions are made using organizational principles, like Gestalt, an individual's ability of depth perception and motion perception, and perceptual constancy. Other illusions occur because of biological sensory structures within the human body or conditions outside of the body within one’s physical environment.

The term illusion refers to a specific form of sensory distortion. Unlike a hallucination, which is a distortion in the absence of a stimulus, an illusion describes a misinterpretation of a true sensation. For example, hearing voices regardless of the environment would be a hallucination, whereas hearing voices in the sound of running water (or other auditory source) would be an illusion.

Mimes are known for a repertoire of illusions that are created by physical means. The mime artist creates an illusion of acting upon or being acted upon by an unseen object. These illusions exploit the audience's assumptions about the physical world. Well known examples include "walls", "climbing stairs", "leaning", "descending ladders", "pulling and pushing" etc.

For more information about Illusion, read the full article at Wikipedia.
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News tagged with illusion


Student self-testing earns high marks as study tool

Medicine & Health / Psychology & Psychiatry

created Dec 10, 2009 | popularity 5 / 5 (2) | comments 0

College students who pore over their notes again and again as they prep for finals could use their studying time more wisely, according to new learning research from Purdue University.





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Sony signs 3-D video deal for 2010 World Cup (AP)

Sony signs 3-D video deal for 2010 World Cup

Technology / Telecom

created Dec 04, 2009 | popularity 5 / 5 (5) | comments 0

(AP) -- The 2010 World Cup is going 3-D. Sony Corp. said Friday it has signed a deal with FIFA, the international football governing body, to record up to 25 World Cup games in 3-D - a technology that gives ...


Auditory illusion: How our brains can fill in the gaps to create continuous sound

Medicine & Health / Neuroscience

created Nov 25, 2009 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

It is relatively common for listeners to "hear" sounds that are not really there. In fact, it is the brain's ability to reconstruct fragmented sounds that allows us to successfully carry on a conversation in a noisy room. ...


A view through special glasses of a 3D TV program during a trade fair

S.Korea's LG aims to sell 400,000 3D TVs next year

Technology / Business

created Dec 15, 2009 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

South Korea's LG Electronics announced Tuesday it plans to sell 400,000 three-dimensional televisions next year by teaming up with local digital satellite broadcaster SkyLife.


Cisco to proceed with $3.4 billion Tandberg deal

Technology / Business

created Dec 04, 2009 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

(AP) -- Cisco Systems Inc. says it is waiving its condition that 90 percent of shareholders of Norwegian videoconferencing equipment firm Tandberg ASA back its $3.4 billion takeover offer and will close the deal as soon ...


Jackson film not part of Sony's new 3-D vision (AP)

Jackson film not part of Sony's new 3-D vision

Technology / Business

created Dec 03, 2009 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

(AP) -- Michael Jackson videos or the next Spider-Man movie won't be among the titles that Sony Corp. releases in 3-D as it gears up to boost TV sales with that technology, Chief Executive Howard Stringer ...


A special kind of flight training

A special kind of flight training

Technology / Engineering

created Dec 08, 2009 | popularity 4 / 5 (2) | comments 0

(PhysOrg.com) -- A new generation of flight simulators will attempt to make air traffic safer.


Sony optimistic on 3-D TVs, in-house display (AP)

Sony optimistic on 3-D TVs, in-house display

Technology / Hi Tech

created Nov 26, 2009 | popularity 4.7 / 5 (3) | comments 0

(AP) -- A third to a half of the Sony Corp. TV sets sold annually will be packed with 3-D features by the year ending March 2013, a senior executive said Thursday.



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