Prof. Akiyoshi Kitaoka calls images like these an “Autumn Color Swamp.” To see the illusion most quickly, use the arrows at the right hand border of your browser to jog the image up and down slightly, and you will see the central square amazingly detach from the surrounding. Once you have seen it unstick once, if you leave the browser window stationary and simply stare at the image, centered on your screen, you will see the central area unstick and drift in various directions, in a quite astonishing way. A great improvement on the old Ouchi illusion, eh what? To see many of Prof. Kitaoka's variations on the original, click on the image.

Somehow I missed this amazing Kitaoka illusion, discovering it by accident on his website today (8/1/07). It appears to be a grid pyramid. What's the illusion? Notice the vivid yellow shade seen at the intersection points of the grid. There is no yellow in the image at all, just black, blue and white! Yes, it's the black that you see as yellow! Get close to the screen and be amazed. Click on the image itself to be taken to the original Kitaoka page on which this illusion appears.