AN optical illusion is leaving viewers scratching their heads because it makes two identical pictures somehow look different.
The illusion, entitled "A Turn in the Road" was created by researchers who presented three drawings of a road side by side.
The two images on the left look similar, while the one on the right looks out of place.
But on closer inspection, it is the central image that is different, and the two outer images that are identical.
A short clip accompanying the illusion shows how the drawings look when shifted around.
Kimberley D. Orsten and James R. Pomerantz from Rice University in Texas created the illusion for the Best Illusion of The Year Contest in 2014, where it won third prize.
The pair explain in their entry: "When we look at two pictures that are physically the same, they usually look the same. When they are different, they look different. Our illusions show the opposite."
Two images that are different but look the same are known as "metamers", the pair say.
Meanwhile, two images that are identical but look different are called "anti-metamers".
The Turn in the Road illusion plays on this effect showing three pictures, two of which match and a third that doesn't.
The pair continue: "Viewers see one image as odd, but it’s one of the two identical images they see as different, an illusion we call 'false pop out'."
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The Illusion of the Year contest is an annual celebration of the illusion research community.
Entries come from all around the world, and an international panel of judges rates them before narrowing them down to a top ten list.
Optical illusions show how deceptive our own eyes can be.
Not everyone sees the same thing when it comes to optical illusions as what we see is often based on biases and associations
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