Clockwise or counterclockwise?

Which way is she spinning?

(Credit: Australia Sun Herald)

OK, so this is not strictly tech-related, but it is a cool way to count down the remaining minutes to the weekend. Look at the dancer and decide which way she's spinning.

Got it?

If you think she's going clockwise, you're apparently right-brain dominant (imaginative, philosophical, touchy-feely, impetuous); if you see her going counter-clockwise, you're left-brain dominant (logical, practical, detail-oriented, safe).

If, like us, you are able to alternate views to see her going in both directions, then you're just a plain old genius.

Source: Australia Herald Sun

[andrew12993]

woah i dont get this.

i have been staring at this for about 5 minutes now and i have no idea how she
could possibly be spinning counterclockwise.
is it supposed to look like something totaly different?

[goodwir]

Woah, You're Not s

[Omnicron204]

I figured it out! HERE'S HOW IT WORKS!

Okay so I was sent this a few days ago and initially totally confused. Until I (My brain) noticed something. Okay when she is spinning clockwise her "LEFT" leg is up but when she is spinning counter clockwise her "RIGHT" leg is up. Also watch her "FOOT" reflection it shows clearly what way she is spinning. So there you have it. ITS A TRICK the image is switched on us!

[rpvitiello]

pretty cool, I can ?change it?s direction? at will

It looks like the image is made up of 3 basic frames. The Center leg always stays in one place, and the other leg is like a pendulum that swings back and fourth (remember this is not a 3D object, but something moving back and forth in a 2d plane.) There is no frame of here facing ?forward? or ?backwards.? All moving video is your brain piecing together the image to make it look like it is moving when in reality it is just a bunch of still pictures. Based on the information (the black blob looks like the outline of a person) you based it on your knowledge of how a person would look spinning, so you turn it into fluid motion.

I guess the theory is which frame you start with, and how you turn it into an animation in your bran depends on how you are thinking.

It is a creative play on angles and frames the gets you to decide which way she is spinning, and it changes what ?leg? looks like it is up. What is happening is the leg in the middle of the image is staying centered, and the other ?leg? crosses over it at a key point. The way the ?body? lined up you could see the swinging leg as either the right or left leg.

As for the shadow, it moves from the right of the frame to the left. Depending on how you see the illusion you see the shadow passing over the ?front? of the other legs shadow? or you see the leg spin ?behind? the other leg. In reality there is no front or back, it is just a 2d image, but your brain is stitching it together to form a ?video?

Pretty cool illusion at first I was like ?how the hell can it change direction. But then I looked at the image differentially and I could see how the image was made up and change how I put the image?s together in my mind.

I can see the image spin in either direction, or I can even look at it as if she was bouncing back and fourth. (you have to ignore the shadow though)

The shadow being cut off like that on the bottom of the screen, and how everything lines up all plays a factor in the illusion.

[milrtime]

interesting

I can get it to change directions but not quite at will. Try blinking repeatedly, it changes which frames you see and seems to make help in changing directions, for me it does anyway.

[milrtime]

RE: interesting

spending a bit more time watching it gets easier. Try opening a second window so you have two on your screen at the same time and get them going in opposite directions or change one back and forth while keeping the other the same.

[pillowsrsoft]

same problem

i couldnt tell she was spining counter clockwise, but i clicked on the link to the place and it switches every so often, and it does it so its not really a trick... its just a stupid horrorscope type thing, if you even read what left and right do most are the same

[Dynamicadam]

The mystery is solved!

Right then. I just put the GIF animation into MS Gif editor, and it actually has 34 frames.
I have put a video online which shows a video of the dancer frame by frame. I have also gone through it and paused it on the 'ambiguous' frames, where the dancer could be seen as facing forwards OR facing backwards.

Here is the video's URL: http://sapvow.bay.livefilestore.com/y1p0qfWNMEbazFAC93NWNjCXZh8qYV0sagYJfF6TowzUrVYG9JaqhoeMKAp2qF9l6XRZhH0egn-D1aoyr3oNv5eIg/Dancer%20Explanation.avi

[monacoyachts]

Look to the left

Doesn't look like a trick to me. I could only see it going clockwise and couldn't imagine it possibly going any other way. And then I looked at it with peripheral vision focusing at some text on the left and lo and behold it started rotating counter/anti- clockwise. Nice one ;)

[muaddib420]

it's a TRICK!

this is a TRICK! it's switched on us. that's why when you "stare at it long enough" it switches, because it actually DOES switch lol! cover the everything but the foot and you'll see.

[zed]

not a trick

it's not a trick, her leg can be either left or right, and the shadow is the same, but it's a 2D image, so your brain interprets it however it wants to. the images don't change halfway through, it's all the same, just an optical illusion. Your brain has a way of making things look however it has to to make what you see the "right" way of seeing things.

[bknowledge]

NO TRICK!!!!

It's your own mind that is changing which direction she is spinning. Because after a minute of watching the image, I can now at will change which direction she spins by changing the focus of my eyes slightly.

[Omnicron204]

Sorry guys I think your tricking yourselves!

I opened multiple windows at the same time of this image and can clearly see in some she is spinning one way and others she is spinning the other way? I had 5 windows open watching her spin! Sorry to say she CLEARLY has her RIGHT leg up spinning clockwise and her left leg up spinning counter clockwise. Watch her hip and leg.

[vwcdave]

The Foot Shadow

I cna alternate between seeing her spin in either direction, however, there appears to be a problem with the shadow. When seen spinning counter clockwise, the shadow from the foot on her outstretched leg appears to be pointed in the wrong direction. It seems like they missed this detail when creating the illusion. It is pointed in the correct direction when seen spinning clockwise. The stationary center foots shadow appears correct either way.

[Dharvanek]

Image doesn't test anything. She spins clockwise for a minute, then spins counterclockwise for a minute, etc.

FAKE.

[wokwithme]

Spoiler Alert!!!

Not a really hard to switch. It's might be related to your peripheral vision.
Here's a hint. Polarity sensitve. If someone knows what that means. It's only take a second to switch back and forth.