When Purple Perceived Only at Fixation: A Fixation and Distance-Dependent Color Illusion
2025/09/15 by Hinnerk Schulz-Hildebrandt, Hinnerk Schulz‐Hildebrandt, Schulz-Hildebrandt, Hinnerk · 9 voices
Neuroscience · Physics and Astronomy · #physics.optics #q-bio.NC
paper · pdf · doi:10.48550/arxiv.2509.11582
Abstract
In this paper a novel optical illusion is described in which purple structures are perceived as purple at the point of fixation, while the surrounding structures of the same purple color are perceived toward a blue hue. As the viewing distance increases, a greater number of purple structures revert to a purple appearance.
Discussions
- A nice shift in perceived colour between central and peripheral vision. The fixated disc looks purple while the others look blue. The effect presumably comes from the absence of S-cones in the fovea. [bsky, 767 points, 32 comments]
- It happens because your eyes have lower sensitivity to blue light at the centre of your field of view. arxiv.org/abs/2509.11582 [bsky, 115 points, 2 comments]
- Here's another twist on the purple dots illusion: the vanishing purple poem! (For this one to work well, you need to zoom in). arxiv.org/pdf/2509.11582 From Hinnerk Schulz-Hildebrandt [bsky, 15 points, 2 comments]
- arxiv.org/pdf/2509.11582 this illusion is fucking up my eyes i gotta go directly back to sleep (sorry for no alt text, read the attached link to understand what's going on) [bsky, 7 points, 1 comments]
- A Fixation and Distance-Dependent Color Illusion [hn, 3 points, 0 comments]
- A Fixation and Distance-Dependent Color Illusion [hn, 3 points, 0 comments]
- Let your eye rest on one of the dots for a moment, and (depending on viewing distance) it will appear more purple than the other, bluer dots. If you keep your gaze very still, you can get the other do [bsky, 2 points, 0 comments]
- When Purple Perceived Only at Fixation: A Fixation and Distance-Dependent Color Illusion https://arxiv.org/abs/2509.11582 [bsky, 2 points, 0 comments]
- A new optical.illusion was recently discovered: doi.org/10.48550/arX... Upon fixation the dots turn purple: [bsky, 0 points, 0 comments]
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