Gigglebit is Siliconrepublic’s daily dose of the funny and fantastic in science and tech, to help start your day on a lighter note. In this edition, check how good your eyesight is…
What do you see when you look at the below image?
If your answer is Albert Einstein then you’ve probably got pretty good vision, but if you think you’re looking at screen siren Marilyn Monroe you might want to visit the opticians.
This is an example of a hybrid image, where a low-spatial frequency image (in this case an image of Monroe) is combined with a high-spatial frequency image (in this case an image of Einstein).
As the video at the bottom of the article explains, up close we can pick out details like Einstein’s moustache and wrinkles but, as we move further away from the image (or if your eyesight is bad), our ability to distinguish details fades, meaning we just see things like mouth shape and hair, causing the image to ‘morph’ into Monroe..png)
This image was developed by Dr Aude Oliva of Massacusetts Institute of Technology in the US; researchers there have spent more than 10 years working on creating hybrid images.
