A dress that is seen in different colors. Green or blue? The color that everyone sees differently
Have you ever enthusiastically argued with your loved one about what color the blouse or shirt you are wearing actually is? Have you ever been surprised to hear that something you sincerely thought was green was perceived by someone else as blue?
Color recognition is a subtle thing, we all have our own characteristics that affect how our brain interprets visual information. There is no correct answer to the question “blue or green” in this case, since the same shade of color can be perceived differently by different people.
In order to avoid discrepancies, there is a system for coding color shades (RGB model). From a technical point of view, each color is a mixture of three tones - red, green and blue (red, green, blue), and the final shade depends on which of the tones is present in what quantity in the shade. However, the human brain sometimes interprets this mix very freely, and this is associated with the difference in the perception of the same shade by different people.
Experiment
An experiment conducted by Optical Express scientists very clearly showed this difference. What color do you think this square is - blue or green? Well, or this way: this color is for you personally rather blue than green, or vice versa?
The results of the experiment showed the ambiguity in the perception of shades by different people. Scientists presented this image to non-colorblind participants (1,000 people took part in the survey) and asked them to answer the question “what color is this rectangle?” For 32% of respondents this color is blue, for 64% it is green, and 4% could not decide. Here's how scientists themselves explain this difference of opinion:
Each person is unique, and many different factors can influence the perception of color shade. The light beam penetrates the eyeball and reaches the retina, the light-sensitive tissue that lines the bottom of the eyeball. Next comes the process of interpretation, when the light is transformed into an electrical signal, which is transmitted along the optic nerve to the cortex, the part of the brain responsible for processing the information received. How exactly the brain interprets a color shade can be influenced not only by physiological characteristics, but also by a person’s psycho-emotional state. In particular, people experiencing stress are less sensitive to green shades, and among them there are much more of those who called the specified shade of color blue.
And yet – green or blue?
Green. From a technical point of view, the model of this color is described as RGB 0.122.116 (green tones - 122, blue - 116, red - zero). After the participants in the experiment named the color, the scientists placed two more images on either side of the picture, a pronounced green and a pronounced blue color, after which they were again asked to answer the question “what color is this rectangle?” Having clear color references, 97% of the experiment participants called the original rectangle green.
Well, if you do see this color as blue, then think about it - maybe it’s just time for you to take a vacation!
The photo, which divided Internet users into two irreconcilable camps, was published on February 25. The girl asked her subscribers to say how they saw the dress, and suddenly it turned out that different people perceive it differently. It seems impossible: how can you confuse the colors black and gold?
The same dress
The disputants suspected each other of deceit, swore and even got divorced. A few days later, journalists became interested in the dress and asked scientists what was the matter. According to the researchers, photography, due to its low quality, turned out to be an ideal model that clearly shows how the brain processes information that comes from the eyes. We automatically "subtract" the color of the background lighting from the image in order to determine how objects are actually colored. In the same way, photographers adjust white balance before shooting.
In the overexposed photo with an unclear background, it is unclear how the room in which the dress hangs is lit. Either the room is filled with bright reddish light from incandescent lamps, or the room is twilight and cold halogen lamps flicker. Those who are inclined (unconsciously!) to the first option see the dress as white and gold, supporters of the second version are sure that it is black and blue (if you check the colors in a graphics editor, it turns out that it is beige and blue).
The ability to perceive an image differently depending on the surrounding background is a most valuable evolutionary acquisition. Thanks to this talent, our ancestors were able to make the right decisions in conditions where there was clearly not enough information (for example, they noticed a suspiciously light spot for a darkened cave and decided that it was a tiger). The brain is always adapting perception - this process cannot be paused - and this is why amazing optical illusions are possible. A robot, even with very perfect color perception, will never see what we see. , perhaps, will give them such an opportunity; moreover, the ability to be deceived by optical illusions may become one of the criteria to understand whether the machine is really intelligent or whether it acts according to a very complex, but initially specified algorithm.
You can check that you are not a robot right now, with the help of a dozen wonderful illusions that The Attic has collected.
Colorful dogs
This illusion is stronger in its own way than the dress illusion.
The left dog appears yellow and the right dog appears blue. In reality they are the same, but the brain adapts the images by “removing” the main background color from them.
"Two-color" cube
Cover the junction of the two faces and the background with a sheet of paper, and it turns out that they are the same
It appears that face A is much darker than face B, but in reality their color is no different. The drawn areas of shadow and bright white illumination prevent the brain from seeing the real color: we “by default” believe that the illuminated edge should be lighter.
Chess
Perhaps the most amazing of black and white illusions
The pieces are white on top and black on the bottom, right? Any graphics editor will tell you that they are the same.
Rectangles
Very simple and clear
Gray rectangles do not differ in color, but the brain cannot abstract from the background and perceives figures on a black background as darker, and on a white background as lighter.
Artificial brightness
How to Brighten an Image Without Increasing the Brightness
When you look at the vertical stripes, you want to close your eyes. Moreover, when you look at them, the pupils narrow. That is, a physiological reaction that protects the eyes from excess light occurs in response to an imaginary increase in brightness that the brain came up with itself!
Movement
It moves, doesn't it?
“Volume” “folds” in a two-dimensional picture move smoothly due to two features of our perception. The first is relatively simple: the eye (more precisely, the brain) automatically selects contrasting circles so that they seem to protrude slightly from the plane of the screen. The waves appear because when we look at any image, our eyes make micro-movements in all directions. At each moment of time, we are focused on a relatively small fragment, but thanks to micro-movements, the eyes seem to “feel” the details around the focal point, helping to perceive the whole picture. The purple circles in the illustration are framed by white and black arcs, which we unconsciously perceive as more and less illuminated areas, that is, the brain makes a flat image three-dimensional. The black and white borders are arranged in such a way that, “running” from circle to circle, our eyes “pull out” three-dimensional folds from the picture. If you focus on one place in the image, the “excitement” will stop.
Vanishing Spot
The most economical bleach
Move slightly away from the monitor and you will see a large stain on your sweater. Lean towards the screen or just look at it closely and the stain will disappear. An amazing effect was discovered back in 1804 by the Swiss doctor Ignaz Troxler: he found that if you focus on some part of the image, after a few seconds the surrounding stationary details will disappear. For dim and blurry details, the effect is more pronounced. In the same way, a person forgets about the ring on his finger and does not notice it, even if initially it seemed slightly narrow. The illustration for this section is taken from an advertising poster for a bleach manufacturer that made an unusually successful use of the Troxler effect.
Illusory points
Count how many black dots are there in the picture?
This is a very well-known illusion, but there is no clear explanation for it. Until recently, experts were confident that black spots where gray lines intersect appeared due to some peculiarities of how retinal cells work. But now many scientists are inclined to the idea that our brain is primarily to blame for the appearance of non-existent points.
Shadow on the board
Cell A is darker than cell B, right?
Another classic illusion, invented in 1995 by MIT professor Edward Adelson. It's hard to believe, but cells A and B are the same color. Adelson explains the illusion by saying that our brain interprets the image according to the context. In this case, the shaded area should be darker. According to the professor, such “self-deception” of the brain is an indicator of its strength, not weakness. For survival, it is much more important to perceive objects not abstractly correctly, but precisely in the context of the situation.
Virtual color
Look at the colored dots on Gagarin's face for a minute, and then look at the white field on the right. You will see a color image of an astronaut
The afterimage that appears before your eyes when you look at an object for a long time, especially a bright one, is called an afterimage. It occurs due to overwork of photoreceptors - the light-sensitive cells of the retina. In a normal situation, due to the micromovements of the eyes discussed above, different photoreceptors are excited at each moment of time. When you look at one point without stopping, the same cells are constantly working. Taking your eyes away from an object, you will see its trace for several seconds due to the fact that tired cells that have adapted to the perception of a specific image do not have time to rebuild and transmit an inadequate signal to the brain. We can say that tired photoreceptors retain the “settings” that are needed to perceive the previous picture. If the original image was colored, then additional colors will appear in the afterimage - those that, when mixed, produce gray. For example, for red the complement is green, for yellow it is purple, and for blue it is orange.
Thousands of people around the world are arguing about the color of a dress posted by a user on the social network Tumblr. His photo was posted a day ago by Scottish singer Kathleen McNeil.
“Two of my close friends are getting married. And the bride's mother sent her a photo of this dress. When the bride showed the dress to the groom, they argued about its color,” McNeil explained the reason for the appearance of the dress on her account. And I asked users for advice to figure it out.
And thereby “broke” the Internet, writes the website www.kp.by. Some say the dress is black and blue, others see white and gold. Even show business stars got involved in this strange game.
“I don’t understand why this strange dress gets so much attention, and I feel like there’s some kind of trick here. I'm scared and confused. P.S. It’s blue and black,” writes singer and actress Taylor Swift.
“How do you see blue and black???” - asks actress and model Kim Kardashian.
Lady Gaga also did not stand aside: “The dress is white and sand.”
“Guys, what’s wrong with you! It’s white and blue,” says Oscar winner Julianne Moore.
People were divided into teams with the hashtags “white and gold” and “blue and black.” The hashtag #thedress topped the top trends in the States. And everyone gets scared. Voting began on various sites. For example, on buzzfeed.com, which first wrote about this story, 72% voted for white and gold. 28% - for the second option. On telegraph.co.uk, 42% of voters see the blue-black color scheme.
It has already become clear that the original dress is really blue and black. But why do some users see it as white and gold?
Ophthalmologists tried to explain why people see the dress differently
Your retina is made up of rods and cones, which convert light stimuli into nerve stimulation. They transform the signal differently. Rods are more sensitive to light, see shadows and work more efficiently in the dark. Cones are sensitive to color, but less sensitive to light. That is, in low light conditions you see more with rods than with cones.
The dress appears blue-black or white-gold depending on whether your eye has more rods or cones and the lighting conditions in the room. Different people have different ratios of rods to cones.
It should take about 45 minutes for your vision to adjust (just as your eyes will need time to adapt to the dark). If you look at a dress in bright light and see one color, it will probably change if you go into a dark room for half an hour and then come back.
Also, different dress colors for different people are associated with individual differences in the perception of color. If you've ever tried to work with photography, you've probably encountered white balance: the camera tries to balance it in inappropriate lighting conditions. Your brain does its own white balance, which means you either ignore the blue tint and see a white-gold image, or ignore the yellow tint and see a blue-black photo.
Ophthalmologists say that different perceptions of the color of a dress do not mean that you have vision or mental problems. Each person has individual vision characteristics. The brain processes light waves that hit the retina in a unique way, which is why some people see certain colors and others see different colors.
There is another explanation for why people see different colors in the same picture. This is an optical illusion. Objects reflect light at different wavelengths or colors, and the human brain determines color from the reflected light. Objects around you can also reflect color and influence your perception. In this photo there are many colors around and they are mixed - the brain cannot immediately determine the color of the dress. People who see dark ambient light see white instead of blue. Washington University professor Jay Neitz says he has been studying color differences for 30 years and this case is one of the most striking. By the way, the dress seemed white to him.
A new explanation of American scientists who conducted research on this phenomenon is possible.
What colors do you see?
Opinions from page readers
The question that worries scientists and philosophers is: do we really see the world differently? For example, do two healthy people have the same color perception, or will red be unequally red for each, and blue will have different saturation for different viewers? An international group of researchers studied the color perception of people from different countries.
An international group of researchers studied the color perception of people from different countries. It turns out that regardless of origin and cultural characteristics, we see colors approximately the same. Moreover, the names of colors in human languages appeared in accordance with their intensity - that is, the order in which they are perceived by visual receptors.
The experiment, conducted by Italian and Indian researchers, resembled a guessing game. Two volunteers communicated virtually. One of them was shown several objects of the same color, and he had to explain to the second what shade he saw - of course, without naming it. To describe the color, the experiment participant chose a substitute word. According to scientists, despite cultural differences, the second participant in most cases quickly guessed what color was meant. The experiment lasted until both participants came to a “consensus” on the name of a particular color.
The scientists were also able to determine which colors were easiest for the volunteers to describe. In first place was, as you might guess, red. Next came purple-red, violet, green-yellow, blue, orange and cyan. It is curious that this sequence roughly corresponds to the order in which the names of colors appeared in a particular culture and, accordingly, language. The most “ancient” colors, the designations of which appeared in human speech, are considered to be white, black and red.
“For example, if there was a common designation for the color red in a population, there was likely a designation for both white and black,” says Francesca Tria, a physiologist in Turin, Italy, and co-author of the study. If the language already had a name for green, then it certainly had a word for red, she adds.
In human development, the moment when a child begins to perceive colors is the most important stage in the formation of the psyche. Child psychologists and physiologists believe that color is one of the first signs by which a child recognizes certain objects. Young children are usually drawn to bright colors. At first they operate with a very limited palette, which expands as they grow older. Children's color preferences change with age. Until the age of ten, most of them say their favorite colors are red (or pink) and yellow.
After ten, many people begin to prefer blue or green. With normal development, by the age of four or five, children are already able to distinguish and name colors, but only by the age of five or six do they develop the perception of color as an unchanging feature. It is curious that until the age of eight to ten they retain a tendency to draw objects in the colors they like, regardless of the actual shade of the depicted objects (multi-colored flower stems, pink sky, blue sun, etc.).
The basic “color series” (the order in which color names appear), observed in cultural and linguistic studies, remains unchanged. Apparently, the whole point is that it coincides with the physiological sensitivity of the human eye: our receptors see red better than blue. And in the process of language formation, man first of all gave names to vitally important phenomena. Since red is the color of blood and fire, it is not surprising that the word for it appeared earlier than for others.
True, there are still some cross-cultural differences. For example, the languages of "primitive" agricultural peoples have many words for shades of green - out of the need to control the growth and maturation of plants and estimate the size of future harvests. The concept of “basic” colors was also different in different cultures.
In the Ancient East there were five of them, in medieval Europe - only three (at first - red, yellow and blue, later - red, green and blue). Artists recognize red, blue and yellow as the primary colors, and consider the rest to be products of their mixing. Achromatic colors (white and black) are considered analogues of absolute illumination (white is sunlight not divided along the spectrum) and absolute darkness (black).
The meanings of white and black in culture generally differ the most - apparently because these colors are difficult to find in nature in their pure form. Among different peoples, they had rather a symbolic meaning. In European culture, black symbolized the negative aspects of life: it is the color of mourning, the color of dark forces, black magic. A black cat (less often a dog, but also certainly black) in the Middle Ages was considered an attribute of a witch.
In Eastern cultures, black has a completely different meaning. In Japan, it is a symbol of nobility, age and experience; it is not without reason that the black belt is a sign of the highest skill in martial arts. In Turkic history and toponymy, “black” (kara) also meant “big”, “great”: the Karakhanid Empire - “great khans”, Kara-Kum - “great sands”, that is, “Great Desert”.
Most likely, you have already seen this dress, and you probably have your own opinion about its color. But the whole world still cannot come to a clear opinion. For some it is invariably blue-black, for others it is white and gold and nothing else!
There were even cases when a person at first thought that the dress was the same color, and then after some time he was sure of the opposite!
This dress has already caused too much trouble. It's time to face the truth and find out what color it really is.
The same photo of the dress that caused so much controversy:
According to some, the original dress, if the lighting were better, should look like this:
Others believe that if it weren’t for the excessive light, the dress would have looked like this:
But why do people see different colors in the same photo? There is one version about this, and it has nothing to do with the monitor settings, nothing depends on them, we checked.
It's all about how the eyes of each individual person react to an illuminated object. Some people decide that the dress is not lit enough (or that its surface is highly reflective) and their brain signals their eyes to compensate. Hence the white-gold color. Others think the dress has too much light falling on it (or the surface is less reflective) and their eyes tell them it is blue-black.
Everything is like in the famous Adelson optical illusion. In the picture, square "A" is the same color as square "B", although it seems that this is not the case.
In general, it turns out that a person’s eyes see an image the way the brain perceives it. Past experience is also important. If a person has seen a fabric with a similar texture or a similar dress in a certain color, this will likely influence what color they see in the photo of the dress. Scientists still know little about this phenomenon called “perception difference.”
And here is a photo of the real dress. It still turned out to be blue-black.
