It was created in 2003 by Akiyoshi Kitaoka, a Japanese psychologist, and professor at the College of Letters at Ritsumeikan University in Kyoto, Japan.

Akiyoshi creates experimental images that are intended to reveal quirks in the mechanical and cognitive systems that contribute to our personal perceptions of the world. The Rotating Snakes illusion involves a pattern of repetitive, curved shapes arranged in a circular or spiral configuration. Very snakey!

It’s actually your brain that creates the motion. The illusion is thought to be related to the way our visual system processes certain patterns and colours, leading to the perception of motion where none exists.

The key factors contributing to the illusion include colour interaction (contrasting differences in intensity and brightness between adjacent colours) and "peripheral drift" (the way our peripheral vision processes motion differently from our central vision). Also, the repetition of similar shapes in a circular or spiral arrangement reinforces the illusion of continuous motion.

If that’s all not cool enough for you, the illusion also works on cats, as demonstrated in a study by Rasmus Bååth, Takeharu Seno and Akiyoshi Kitaoka published in the Journal of Psychology in 2014; along with home videos posted by many curious cat owners before and since … just like this one.

And what’s more, Akiyoshi has contributed his skills to Lady Gaga by designing the optical illusion graphics that were used for the cover of her 2013 album ARTPOP.

Finally, note the genius of a recent work by Akiyoshi called “15 Bars”. Anyone or anything you recognise in there?

Postscript

An interesting warning on Akiyoshi’s website reads as follows: “Some of the pictures on this website can cause dizziness or might possibly epileptic seizures. The latter happens when the brain can't handle the conflicting information from your two eyes. If you start feeling unwell when using this website, immediately cover one eye with your hand and then leave the page. Do not close your eyes because that can make the attack worse.”

Story Idea: Remo Giuffré
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References

ritsumei.ac.jp/~akitaoka
npr.org/sections/13.7/2014/03/24/293740555/the-rotating-snakes-are-all-in-your-mind
wikipedia.org/wiki/Peripheral_drift_illusion
scirp.org/html/16-6901178_48304.htm

Images

1. Rotating Snakes by Akiyoshi Kitaoka, 2003
2. Video: How differences in color can make a still image move (The rotating snakes illusion), Popular Science, 2017. Video frame features Akiyoshi Kitaoka.
3 & 4. Our peripheral vision processes motion differently from our central vision.
5. Video: "My cat can see the rotating snakes illusion!" @rasmusab, 2013
6. Akiyoshi Kitaoka with Lady Gaga and her album ARTPOP in 2013
7. A clever work by Akiyoshi Kitaoka called "15 Bars". So simple yet so recognisable.