Chunder Thunder: This Stomach-churning Optical Illusion Brings Painting Of Ship To Life

None of us is a stranger to optical illusions - and given this has been the season of mind-bogglers, we have had our brains stumped on a few good occasions.

But there's always time for more. A nauseating optical illusion, which combines still images to give the illusion of movement, will leave you feeling uncomfortable.

Optical illusion brings the painting of a ship to life

The illusion known as 'Chunder Thunder', is a painting of an old sailing ship in stormy seas that seemingly comes to life.

Screengrab/YouTube

The optical illusion was developed by Mike Pickard and Gurpreet Singh from the University of Sunderland, and was a finalist in the 2019 Illusion of the Year competition.

Illusion of movement

"The ship appears to be tossed around on a raging sea in a wild storm where the waves surge past and the clouds scud across the sky," the illusion's description on the competition website explained.

"With the hatches battened down, the crew are experiencing a roller coaster ride! However, this impression of wild motion is illusory," they added.

To develop the illusion, the researchers moved all the elements of the painting forwards by a tiny amount and then back by the same amount.

They then added dark and light flashes to make the boat appear to violently move back and forth in the sea.

This isn't the only optical illusion that has been causing heads to hurt. Earlier, a GIF featuring a spinning woman left the internet divided, with some saying it is rotating clockwise and others saying it moves anti-clockwise.

Also known as the Silhouette Illusion, it was originally released in 2003 as a GIF animation of a pirouetting female dancer.

The optical illusion was created by Japanese web designer Nobuyuki Kayahara, and it works by using motion to stimulate your brain.

Some people see the figure spinning clockwise, while others see her moving counterclockwise.

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