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Monday, November 23, 2009

Photo: "Virtual Robots" Befuddled by Optical Illusions


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In this optical illusion, the large right object in the foreground appears to be brighter than the one on the left, but in reality they are the same shade of gray.

Virtual robots exposed to a similar illusion were also fooled in a new study, suggesting they share the human ability to misperceive the world.

The research supports the idea that visual interpretation isn't hardwired, but is rather an accumulation of earlier life experiences.

Image courtesy R. Beau Lotto