Champions of Illusions

Drs. Macknik and Martinez-Conde produce the annual Best Illusion of the Year Contest, a celebration of the ingenuity and creativity of the world’s premier illusion creators. Visual illusions are those perceptual experiences that do not match the physical reality. Our perception of the outside world is generated indirectly by brain mechanisms, so all visual perception is illusory to some extent. The study of visual illusions is critical to understanding the basic mechanisms of sensory perception, as well as to cure visual and neural diseases. The illusion community includes visual scientists, ophthalmologists, neurologists, painters, sculptors, magicians, mathematicians, and graphic designers that use a variety of methods to unveil the underpinnings of illusory perception. This lecture will feature the most exciting novel illusions created by the best and most cutting-edge illusion innovators of the new millennium.