Without the participation of consciousness and will, each person has processes of automation of actions. We owe this to the mechanisms and physiological properties of our body. He was given a wonderful gift to switch over most of the work of consciousness to himself in the process of automation. Moreover, this property is possessed not only by motor functions. Automatisms exist in our perception. So, unfamiliar foreign speech is heard in the form of an undifferentiated stream of sounds. After training, it is perceived differently. Individual phrases and words are heard. This is explained by the formation of auditory automatisms.
However, in the most ordinary perception of the world, this “rough work” of our unconscious mechanisms is almost invisible. It is detected using special techniques. Unusual conditions that are created for perceptual mechanisms distort our perception. In other words, they become the cause of illusions.
Unusual museum
In 2013, the discovery of an amazing attraction that can deceive the eyesight took place on the Thai island of Phuket. This is the Museum of Optical Illusions, or the 3D Museum. It is called Phuket Trick Eye Museum.
The Museum of Illusions immediately pleased the guests of the island, as well as local residents. The owner of the new establishment is originally from Korea. He opened such museums in his homeland, in Thailand, in Chiang Mai and in Pattaya.
The Phuket Museum of Illusions is a building that houses themed rooms. At the entrance, visitors are invited to take off their shoes and deposit them at a special rack. In the halls you can walk barefoot or in socks, because some fragments of some paintings are depicted on the floor.
In the first room of the second floor, where visitors fall, reproductions of paintings by famous artists are posted . They are located on the ceiling, on the walls and on the floor. Reproductions are made in a humorous manner. Any of the visitors can become the hero of Van Gogh's “Night”, cheat Mona Lisa, support the pants falling from the screaming Edward Munch, and take pictures of many other images. More than a hundred paintings that cause illusions will not leave anyone indifferent. At the same time, they encourage visitors to just have some fun.
After that, the Museum of Illusions invites everyone to the next room. It is dedicated to Phuket and Thailand. Here, visitors can assemble a puzzle with the famous Buddha head, become a guest of the Songkran festival with Thai politicians and Barack Obama, as well as paraglide.
Going further, guests can see 3D paintings. They depict scenes from the life of tourists who visited the island, who take pictures of everything, like sushi, shopping, crocodiles, etc.
The next room is a mirror. In it, when creating a special angle, you can photograph a very funny picture with you in the role of the main character. The next room is dominated by the theme of angel wings.
Once on the first floor, visitors find themselves in a world of travel and adventure. Here they are given the opportunity to climb a flying helicopter through a suspended staircase, ride on a sled, leaving to the side of an avalanche, find themselves in the mouth of a shark, fly on a carpeted plane, ride in a carriage with zombies, etc.
When going to the Museum of Illusions, do not forget to bring a camera with you. You can also use a tripod and flash.
Pinhole Camera in Scotland
One of Edinburgh's most visited museums is the World of Illusions. His exhibits show the possibility of achieving visual effects that magicians use in their performances. But the main highlight of this museum is the camera obscura. It is located on the top floor. According to scientists, a similar camera existed in the fourth century BC.
The camera obscura is a deaf room that does not have windows. A small hole is located only at the top of one of the walls. A large white plate is located on the opposite wall. The light that passes through a single hole allows you to see on the screen objects that are from the outside of the building. At the same time, their guests see them upside down. Tourists who have visited the camera obscura, can admire the unusual projection of the square, which is located in front of Edinburgh Castle.
In the remaining rooms of the museum are various technical innovations. They impress visitors with their color and lighting effects. Here you can see the plasmasphere with lightning and entertaining holograms, as well as your own reflections, which are distorted in various ways.
A large number of exhibits are interactive. They allow visitors to study the visual effects and optical properties of various objects. For those who love history, the museum invites you to visit the hall, which contains old photographs of the city of Edinburgh.
Funny Museum in Japan
Takao Trick Art Museum is located in a suburb of Tokyo. This is a museum of optical illusions, which presents 3D paintings of the Egyptian exhibition. At a certain position of the visitor, drawings acquire volume. The attraction itself is small, but at the same time it is popular with guests and residents of the Japanese capital.
Russian Museum of Illusion
In St. Petersburg, on the basis of the Behemoth photo studio, an unusual institution has been opened. In it, every adult visitor will be able to feel like a child who has fallen into parallel reality, where the elementary laws of physics do not work. The address of the Museum of Illusions is Moskovsky Prospekt 107, building 5.
The initiative to create an unusual attraction was put forward by the photographers of the Behemoth studio. From similar museums around the world they borrowed ideas for exhibits. The exposition in St. Petersburg is represented by illusions not only visual, but also sound.
Reviews of the Museum of Illusions indicate that visitors, while viewing exhibits, lose confidence in their perceptual organs.
3D exhibit
Visitors noted and multi-colored canvas, located in the museum. This 3D image helps determine a person’s mood. If the museum guest is calm, then in the picture he sees minimal movement. In case of fatigue or intoxication, the illusion of movement intensifies.
Ames's room
This is one of the main exhibits of the Museum of Illusions in St. Petersburg. It serves as the embodiment of the idea of the great psychologist A. Ames. At first glance, the exhibit looks like an ordinary room, which has a rectangular shape and standard sizes. However, as a result of visual illusion, a person who stands in one corner of it seems to be a giant, and in another - a dwarf. When the visitor moves to the opposite corner, he changes in size. The giant becomes a dwarf, and vice versa.
The secret of the illusion created lies in the arrangement of the room. Its end wall is located to the side at different angles. To the right - under the blunt, to the left - under the sharp. The effect is enhanced by special patterns located on the ceiling and walls, as well as on the checkered floor. In other words, the secret of focus lies in a well-created false perspective.
Ames Window
This is another notable exhibit of the museum. In order to understand the essence of the illusion, you need to look at Ames window for several minutes. In creating this optical illusion, various psychological techniques have been used.
A motor rotates the frame clockwise. However, visitors believe that the frame oscillates. The effect of illusion is created in an unusual form. The frame is made in the form of a trapezoid.
Unusual exhibition in Moscow
On Zubarevsky Boulevard of the capital you can visit the Museum of Optical Illusions. In Moscow, such an exhibition opened for the first time. On an area of 1000 square meters are wonderful exhibits. They demonstrate various New Year's illusions. Among them are the “Snow Kaleidoscope”, which creates the appearance of a blizzard, “Santa Claus's Sleigh” inverted, inscriptions on New Year's balls that can be read from the only suitable point for this, and much more.