Sugihara's Impossible Circle/Square Illusion

Kokichi Sugihara produced an optical illusion of figure that looks like a circular cylinder when viewed from one angle but like a square cylinder when viewed in a mirror (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oWfFco7K9v8). We illustrate this illusion with a curve in 3-space. To see the circle, rotate the space so that the blue and green axes line up (1 with 1, 2 with 2, 3 with 3, and so on). To see the square, rotate the space so that the blue and negative green axes line up (1 with -1, 2 with -2, 3 with -3, and so on).

 

David Richeson

 
Resource Type
Activity
Tags
ambiguous  circle  curves  cylinder  illusion  optical  parametric  parametric-curves  square 
Target Group (Age)
3 – 19+
Language
English
 
 
 
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