Mind-Bending Illusions: What Color Are These Pills Really?

The blue and black dress phenomenon may have calmed down, but optical illusions continue to pop up, challenging our perception just like mushrooms after the rain. 

The first question on this challenge: Do you think the pills in the picture below are blue and yellow?

What color are the pills - blue or yellow?

What do you think? Ah, one blue and one red, maybe? Hmm, let's see what score you get on this test. 

Ready?

Here is the result: Both pills are gray. 

Both pills are gray

But how can that be? Well, Occulus, a subsidiary of Facebook, has recently released a series of similar optical illusions demonstrating one point: what we perceive as reality is actually a collection of electrical signals that our brain interprets in its own way. 

During the lecture by the head of the company's research team, Michael Abrash (who you can see in the attached video), he explained that a correctly created and presented virtual world can appear real to the viewer. For instance, Abrash showcased more images during his lecture, which our brains interpret quite differently than they actually are. 

For example, consider this image:

A completely crooked chessboard?

We perceive it as a chessboard, whose lines are completely crooked. What do they actually look like?

As straight as a level, exactly like this:

Lines as straight as a level

So what threw us off so much? The diagonal dots, of course. 

And here is another delightful example: What color do you see this cube as?

Blue, yellow, colorful?

Nope. Think again. Struggling? Okay, it’s actually a completely gray cube. So how do the colors change? Abrash, along with other experts in the company, explain that it often boils down to the lighting conditions illuminating the picture itself. "Illusions are proof that we can 'trick' our brains into believing non-existent things are entirely real," concludes Abrash.