The amazing optical illusion performed in the video above is a puzzle that was created by Japanese illusionist Kokichi Sugihara. The illusion makes plastic squares look as though they are actually circular when placed in front of a mirror.
“The direct views of the objects and their mirror images generate quite different interpretations of the 3D shapes,” Sugihara has explained.
“They look like vertical cylinders, but their sections appear to be rectangles, while in the other view they appear to be circles.”
This seemingly impossible illusion is something you can try at home if you have a 3D-printer handy. Devin Montes, creator of YouTube channel Make Anything, created his own video showing the solution to this puzzling effect.
“The video was created late at night on the spur of the moment, when I saw another video showing this illusion, but offering no explanation,” Montes tells Digital Trends.
“I took it upon myself to figure out what was causing this mind-boggling trick, because I thought it would be super cool to 3D print my own. When I got it to work, I immediately filmed myself showing off the trick.”
In Montes’ video, he shows us that Sugihara’s shapes are actually created in a way that makes them somewhat in between a circle and a square. This ambiguous shape that shares characteristics of both squares and circles is what plays on our ability to perceive images.
“This puzzle is great because it’s simple, yet so effective,” Montes continues. “Even when you know how it works, it fools you.”
If you’re wanting to try this out for yourself, you can! Simply follow Montes’ instructions and then download the printer files Montes has made available here!