kitty_tape

I can get it to go both ways, and I have no reason whatsoever to believe that it has anything do with "right/left-brainedness".

I would suspect that people tend to read it more easily as spinning clockwise because that rotation is consistent with seeing the silhouette from the top down, as opposed to counter-clockwise, which requires seeing it more or less as if from underneath a glass floor. To put it another way, the actual 2D circle traced by the tip of her extended foot (which switches from being her right to left foot depending on how you see it) traces a clockwise ellipse, in the image plane, so that might also be a bias towards perception of clockwise motion.

I can see it going both ways. The image is obviously going counterclockwise, as evidenced by the shadow. At first glance I saw it going clockwise, but when I noticed the shadow didn't match I looked back up and saw it going counterclockwise. Now when I look at the foot and ignore the shadow it reverts to clockwise, and looking at the shadow makes it go counterclockwise. Further, if I scroll down the page and then mentally "expect" it to be going in one direction, expressly trying to visualize it going in that direction, it's going in that direction when I scroll back up. I sincerely doubt it has any indication as to one's tendency towards right or left brain thinking. Even if it did, it could only tell you what state your mind was in at the exact instant you looked at the image.

I'm amused that it pegged me as right-brained, even though I then developed a left-brained method for seeing it either way. I've been in a creative mood lately, though, so it makes sense to me that I would've initially looked at it from a right-brained perspective before my natural tendency towards left-brained thinking kicked in.

how does the shadow show that it's going counterclockwise?

I disagree. The image is obviously going clockwise as evidence by the specular reflection off the floor.

I've seen it spin both ways, though usually clockwise for me. The right/left brain holds no weight but I *have* seen two people look at it at the same time and see different directions (and heard of people seeing it stand still or just wobble) so it's more than just an animation trick.

Also, she seems to be on her right leg when spinning one way and left when spinning the other.

And I *really* want someone to tell me how this thing works.

Also, she seems to be on her right leg when spinning one way and left when spinning the other.

This is the case. The way the image works is that an object and its "mirror image twin" have the same silhouette, as long as there aren't significant perspective effects (like something far away from the camera actually being smaller). So while a person seeing it rotate clockwise sees at a given moment the model facing towards the camera with her right leg extended, the person seeing it rotate counterclockwise would perceive her as facing away with her left leg extended.

Clockwise, and I have yet to make it switch.

Same here; even after reading the above comments I can't look at it and not see the lower hand position as being in front of the figure, which I guess would be what's making it seem like it's going clockwise.

I think I noticed that, when I got it to go the other way, it looked like the tilt of the figure was different to me.

At first I could only see it spinning clockwise. Eventually by focusing on the shadows of the feet and covering most of the rest with another window I was able to get it to turn the other way.

I think it is bunk.

The trick to making it switch, for me atleast, was to focus on the feet, then it was easy to switch my brain so to speak into seeing it go the other way, then look up again towards the top of the picture. I saw this one awhile back as a link from some blog or other: http://www.maniacworld.com/Spinning-Silhouette-Optical-Illusion.html

Seorin, i agree, the shadow beneath does seem to be impossible if it were spining clockwise.

Although it could be a reflection, of course.

I originally saw the figure spinning clockwise.

The trick seems to be that when the figure isn't facing left or right, you aren't sure whether she is facing towards you or away from you. All you have is a silhouette.

With effort, I managed to get her spinning the other way by focusing on the feet. Start by focusing on the feet at either the 3:00 or 9:00 position, and then force your brain into thinking the raised foot it actually moving towards you instead of away from you (or vice versa). It also seems to help to note that the counterclockwise figure is being seen from a lower angle.

Hmm. I originally could only see it going clockwise, no matter how I stared at it. Then I tried focusing on the feet, and could get it to flip the other way. Actually, when I let my eyes drift out of focus, I've *seen* the extended leg switch direction (but always when it was on the left side of the screen). Strange pixelated switching. So now I'm curious how this illusion is supposed to work...

I have encountered another breakthrough. My roommate brought up the spinning figure again, and this time I had two new experiences. I have seen a situation where the raised leg is always in front (spinning clockwise 180º, then counterclockwise 180º). And I have also seen, when the raised foot is passing in front, the other foot spinning in the opposite direction. The latter looks very painful.