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Arthur T Knackerbracket has found the following story:
Exposure to a common visual illusion may enhance your ability to read fine print, according to new research published in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science.
"We discovered that visual acuity -- the ability to see fine detail -- can be enhanced by an illusion known as the 'expanding motion aftereffect' -- while under its spell, viewers can read letters that are too small for them to read normally," says psychological scientist Martin Lages of the University of Glasgow.
Visual acuity is normally thought to be dictated by the shape and condition of the eye but these new findings suggest that it may also be influenced by perceptual processes in the brain.
Interest in the intersection between perception and reality led Lages and co-authors Stephanie C. Boyle (University of Glasgow) and Rob Jenkins (University of York) to wonder about visual illusions and how they might affect visual acuity.
"The expanding motion aftereffect can make objects appear larger than they really are and our question was whether this apparent increase in size could bring about the visual benefits associated with actual increases in size," Boyle explains. "In particular, could it make small letters easier to read?"
Journal Reference: Martin Lages, Stephanie C. Boyle, Rob Jenkins. Illusory Increases in Font Size Improve Letter Recognition. Psychological Science, 2017; 095679761770539 DOI: 10.1177/0956797617705391
-- submitted from IRC
(Score: 2) by DannyB on Thursday July 13 2017, @03:24PM (6 children)
Why do clockwise spirals increase visual acuity? Couldn't one use a mirror image of the spiral image, along with counterclockwise motion? Isn't the spin direction related to the design of the spiral?
Anyone who has experienced this knows the effect is fleeting as TFA states. Would prolonged exposure, or repeated exposures have any lasting effect?
The lower I set my standards the more accomplishments I have.
(Score: 1, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday July 13 2017, @03:40PM (4 children)
Well, it's easy: A left spin helps reading small texts by the Democrats, a right spin helps reading small texts by the Republicans. For reading Trump's texts, erratically spinning spirals are recommended.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday July 13 2017, @04:19PM
No, no no. Its hemispherical: its only clockwise above the equator, if you repeat the study down under you'll find only counter-clockwise spirals achieve the desired effect.
(Score: 5, Funny) by bob_super on Thursday July 13 2017, @05:18PM (2 children)
> For reading Trump's texts, erratically spinning spirals are recommended.
Being drunk helps a lot, for sure.
He's got the first fractal presidency: try to zoom in to get more details, and you end up always staring at the same features which you got from the top level.
(Score: 3, Informative) by DeathMonkey on Thursday July 13 2017, @06:38PM (1 child)
Yep, it's toupee's all the way down!
(Score: 2) by fadrian on Thursday July 13 2017, @06:57PM
Tail-recursion is the only depth he has.
That is all.
(Score: 4, Interesting) by mcgrew on Thursday July 13 2017, @06:53PM
I found an excellent example of it, [michaelbach.de] since TFA didn't supply one. Stare at the cross until the Buddha image comes, and the effect is striking.
mcgrewbooks.com mcgrew.info nooze.org