<blockquote>
  <p>To what category of optical illusions does this image belong?</p>
</blockquote>

<p>This appears to be a modified <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hering_illusion" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Hering illusion</a> or rather it seems to rely on the same principle:</p>

<p><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/7dAAf.png" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/7dAAf.png" alt="enter image description here"></a></p>

<p>Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License: Wikipedia 2018.</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>There are several possible explanations for why perceptual distortion
  produced by the radiating pattern. The illusion was ascribed by Hering
  to an overestimation of the angle made at the points of intersection.
  If true, then the straightness of the parallel lines yields to that of
  the radiating lines, implying that there is a hierarchical ordering
  among components of such illusion. Others have suggested that angle
  overestimation results from lateral inhibition in visual cortex,
  while others have postulated a bias inherent in extrapolating 3D angle
  information from 2D projections.</p>
</blockquote>

<p>The modification in the case of your example with the radiant part being at the corner where the vertical rises from the tip of the left hand parallel line.</p>

<p><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hering_illusion" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hering_illusion</a></p>

<p>That being said, see <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ames_room" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Ames room illusion</a> for comparison of a superficially similar setup.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-12-20T23:30:18.007Z
2018-12-20T23:57:01.317Z
2018-12-20T23:57:01.317Z
Jiminy Cricket.
<p>To what class of optical illusions does the below image belong?  The diagonal lines are parallel, but because of the context, the longer of the two appears bent.</p>

<p><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/Z34DC.png" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/Z34DC.png" alt="enter image description here"></a></p>

<optical-illusion>
To what category of optical illusions does this image belong?
Doubt
# To what category of optical illusions does this image belong?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2018-12-18)

To what class of optical illusions does the below image belong? The diagonal lines are parallel, but because of the context, the longer of the two appears bent.

[![enter image description here](https://i.sstatic.net/Z34DC.png)](https://i.sstatic.net/Z34DC.png)

**Tags:** optical-illusion


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## 1 answers

### Answer by username_1 on 2018-12-20. Score: 3

> To what category of optical illusions does this image belong?

This appears to be a modified [Hering illusion](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hering_illusion) or rather it seems to rely on the same principle:

[![enter image description here](https://i.sstatic.net/7dAAf.png)](https://i.sstatic.net/7dAAf.png)

Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License: Wikipedia 2018.

> There are several possible explanations for why perceptual distortion
> produced by the radiating pattern. The illusion was ascribed by Hering
> to an overestimation of the angle made at the points of intersection.
> If true, then the straightness of the parallel lines yields to that of
> the radiating lines, implying that there is a hierarchical ordering
> among components of such illusion. Others have suggested that angle
> overestimation results from lateral inhibition in visual cortex,
> while others have postulated a bias inherent in extrapolating 3D angle
> information from 2D projections.

The modification in the case of your example with the radiant part being at the corner where the vertical rises from the tip of the left hand parallel line.

<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hering_illusion>

That being said, see [Ames room illusion](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ames_room) for comparison of a superficially similar setup.


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