"YOU WON'T BELIEVE YOUR EYES!" - Smarter Every Day 142

TL;DR

Your brain can create color and images that aren't actually there due to the persistence of vision and moving time averages.

Transcript

Hey it's me Destin. Welcome back to Smarter Every Day. You won't believe your eyes. You've heard this before right? It's usually like a click bait title to get you to watch an internet video or read a stupid article. But are there cases when you actually can't believe your eyes? Make this video as large as you can on the screen that you're watching... Read More

Key Insights

• 👻 Persistence of vision is a phenomenon that allows the brain to blend together multiple images over time to create the illusion of continuous motion and color.
• 🤢 The LED bar is a device that can manipulate and control visual information to study how the brain processes and interprets it.
• 🧠 The brain's time resolution and ability to average visual information contribute to the creation of color and movement where none actually exists.

Questions & Answers

Q: How does persistence of vision work?

Persistence of vision is the brain's ability to blend together multiple images over a short period of time, creating the illusion of continuous motion and color.

Q: What role does the LED bar play in understanding vision?

The LED bar allows researchers to manipulate and study how the brain interprets visual information by controlling the timing and position of illuminated LEDs.

Q: Why does the brain fill in gaps and create color where there is none?

The brain creates color and fills in gaps based on the moving average of visual information, combining previous and current frames to create a continuous image and smooth out any inconsistencies.

Q: How does the brain's time resolution affect what we see?

The brain has limited time resolution, meaning that it can only perceive changes that occur within a certain timeframe. This can lead to the persistence of vision and the illusion of continuous movement.

Summary & Key Takeaways

• The video explores the phenomenon of persistence of vision by showing an image that appears to have color even though it is black and white.

• A device called the LED bar, which uses a spinning array of LEDs, is showcased and analyzed to better understand how the brain processes visual information.

• Dr. Stuart Anstis explains that the delay and averaging of visual information in the brain create the illusion of color and movement even when there is none.