A new exhibition now at Questacon Canberra for a limited time! More...
Perception Deception is more than 40 experiences and perception tests, including 25 physical interactive exhibits and 17 multimedia activities. It’s at Questacon Canberra for a limited time only and is free with your paid admission.
Maybe you think that your eyes are like a pair of movie cameras, faithfully reporting what you see to your brain, but this is far from the truth. Your brain takes signals from your senses, then adds and subtracts its own information like an editing machine.
When you see, hear or feel an illusion, you’ll realise your brain uses a bag of perceptual tricks to create your ‘reality’. Even when you know how an illusion works, your brain stays on perceptual autopilot.
Can you trust your brain to be truthful about the world around you? Or has your life been one long Perception Deception?
Topics Covered: Multi-Sensory
Can temperature cause surprising sensations?
It’s a fine line between pleasure and pain when you grab warm and cool coils together. More...Can wire feel like velvet?
Run your hands over hard wire. Do you feel like a velvety, oily or jelly-like sensation? More...Can you toe the line?
Looking at the world through prism glasses, your view of the world becomes skewed, as does your sense of balance! More...Do any lines feel longer or shorter?
Does the Müller-Lyer visual illusion work as a tactile experiment too? More...Do you feel a phantom hand?
With a mirror where your brain expects your arm to be, visual and touch signals can get confusing. More...Do you really see what you hear?
Sometimes, what you hear can influence what you think you ‘see’. More...Do your eyes make your body sway?
Your sense of balance and proprioception is strongly influenced by what you see. More...Does swapping stereo fool your eyes?
Sometimes, one sense—hearing or vision—will dominate the other. More...What do floaty arms feel like?
This muscular after effect shows how your brain and muscles adjust to incoming sensory signals. More...Which shapes feel heavier?
How heavy something feels can be influenced by what you see! More...Topics Covered: Sight
Ames Room
How large or small things appear when they are up close or far away can be fooled to create an illusion. More...Are the long lines tilted or parallel?
Why does the Zöllner line illusion make you think things are tilted when they're not? More...Are you observant?
To handle the large volume of visual signals it encounters, your brain only pays attention to some of what it receives. More...Can you pick up the robot?
Check out this three-dimensional hologram made from two curved mirror surfaces. More...Can you saturate your eyes?
Can you fool your eyes into seeing opposite colours? More...Can you see to infinity?
It's a trick, but your brain will think it's looking into a long long tunnel! More...Do you see 3D?
2D photographs can appear 3D with the help of anaglyphic glasses. More...Do you see raised bumps or dents?
Your brain uses the position and darkness of shadows to figure out shapes. Can you be tricked? More...Do you see the same yellow?
Due to genetic differences and something called ‘trichromacy’, we all see colours a bit differently. More...Does brightness change how you see speed?
Do things appear to move faster depending on the colour of the background? More...Does the grey ring grow darker?
To make something look brighter, place it next to something that is darker! More...Does the red spot shrink or change colour?
Your visual system ‘fills in’ the gaps with surrounding textures and views when the borders of an object are fuzzy. More...Watch the spinning disc and see things expand!
Do things seem to ‘expand’ or wobble when you watch the spinning disc? More...What do you see in the mirror?
Watch how light reflecting off different surfaces can make unrecognisable images appear more coherent. More...What do you see through this scope?
Check out how your world appears to change when the scopes alter what you see! More...Which row of chess pieces is darker?
This optical illusion is a good example of how your brain processes layers of information to help you see. More...Which way do they turn?
Perceptual rivalry can allow your brain to interpret something in different ways. More...Would you wipe away a friend's face?
Our brains ‘fill in’ blind spots, preferring to pay attention to movement rather than faces. More...Topics Covered: Social
Are you speedy or slow?
Performance times can be affected by priming techniques. More...Can you be fooled?
A magician can use social cues to fool our perception and perform a vanishing ball illusion. More...Can you help me?
Do you feel a strong urge to help people that look more child like? More...Do people pay attention?
Watch how this video shows attentional blindness in a social situation. More...Male or female?
Do you see these faces as the same gender as others do? More...Which face is most friendly?
Try putting these faces in ‘friendly’ order and see if you agree with others! More...Which face is normal?
When a face is turned upside down, do you lose the ability to judge it? More...Who said that?
As we grow up, we meet people from lots of different backgrounds. Try matching voices to faces! More...Topics Covered: Sound
Can words be shaped?
Check out how the ‘sound’ of a word can influence your perception of shape. More...Can you fill in the speech gaps?
Even when someone’s speech is interrupted by a loud noises, you might be able to perceive what they're saying! More...Can you forget what you've heard?
Can your brain put together enough information to make sense of broken speech? More...Can you make up a memory?
Does your brain invent details that weren't there? More...Can you see what I'm saying?
What you see can influence what you hear! More...Is there a delay in what you say?
The brain handles speech and language sounds differently to normal, everyday sounds. More...What's kooky karaoke?
Perception of language can be fooled when people hear the same songs. More...Curriculum Links
Bringing your class to the exhibition? These documents show where Perception Deception’s exhibits link with various curriculums across the country. Note you may need to download reader software to view or print these PDF documents.
- ACT Year 6 to 10 Essential Learning Achievements
- NSW Stage 3 to 5 Outcomes in Science
- Queensland Year 5 to 9 Essential Learnings in Science
- Victoria Level 3 and 4 Essential Learning Standards in Science
- Western Australia Level 3 to 6 Learning Outcomes in Science
Learn More
Want to test your perception at home or in the classroom?
Or if you’re looking to dig deeper into the subject, here’s some web links to start with.
- Neuroscience for Kids
- Scientific American Mind
- Mind Hacks
- Arthur Shapiro’s Illusion Sciences blog
- Visual illusions by Akiyoshi Kitaoka
- Visual illusions by Stuart Anstis
- Richard Wiseman’s blog and Quirkology
- The Frontal Cortex blog
- Cognitive Daily blog
- Brain blog
- Best Visual Illusion of the Year Contest
- Intelligent Insights blog
- Human brain ‘fly through’
- V.S. Ramachandran
- Richard L Gregory
- 101 Fascinating Brain Blogs
- ABC All in the Mind