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Spinning Dancer

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Original - The Spinning Dancer, is a very bizarre dancer optical illusion. It appears to spin both clockwise and anti-clockwise, depending on how the viewer sees it. It is falsely labeled Right Brain v Left Brain test.
Reason
This image is very popular around the net and I was surprised not to see it on wikipedia. Thus I uploaded the image and thought it be good if it was a FP because it is a great optical illusion. It is also doing well at commons FPC
Articles this image appears in
The Spinning Dancer, Optical Illusion
Creator
Nobuyuki Kayahara
Well, look where the image is used--two optical illusion articles. Who knows if it would even work if the dancer were on balance? gren グレン 07:24, 13 February 2008 (UTC)[reply]
I'm puzzled that nobody seems to know how it works, and about 1/3 of people cannot make it work. I'm beginning to doubt that this is a proper optical illusion at all, and I certainly doubt our ability to write a coherent article about it. Most crucially, if we can't have a discussion about whether it is possible to create an alternative image that addresses certain criticisms brought up in this discussion, then we should not promote it at all. Additionally, show me how an image that you don't understand can be encyclopaedic. Samsara (talk • contribs) 11:55, 13 February 2008 (UTC)[reply]
I believe it works because the image is a silhouette. Thus when the lifted leg passes the standing leg, it may be passing either in front of or behind the standing leg. Depending upon which your brain settles on (for want of a better phrase) you will see the woman rotate either clockwise or counterclockwise. Pstuart84 Talk 17:15, 13 February 2008 (UTC)[reply]
That's too vague a description of the mechanism to allow us to produce an improved variant. Samsara (talk • contribs) 17:47, 13 February 2008 (UTC)[reply]
No need to bite. Incidentally, the effect is taking place at the same time in relation to the arms and the pony tail. Pstuart84 Talk 18:01, 13 February 2008 (UTC)[reply]
  • Support - I'm finding that the only way I can get it to spin the other way is to cover up everything but to the lowest foot, then get it to rotate the other way, then uncover everything. — BRIAN0918 • 2008-02-12 16:29Z
  • Comment That's just sick, mostly spins counterclockwise for me but if I look away it can change. --Krm500 (talk) 16:39, 12 February 2008 (UTC)[reply]
  • Comment. I probably am not normal. I stared at it several minutes and for me she just keeps spinning clockwise. -- Darwinek (talk) 22:29, 12 February 2008 (UTC)[reply]
    • Try doing what I suggested above. The key is to cover everything up except the bottom foot, and then imagine that rotating the other way. The rest will "magically" accommodate this new direction. I'm at the point now where I can get it to switch back and forth at will. — BRIAN0918 • 2008-02-12 23:58Z
Huh, I do it by accident when I read a comment and look back at the picture. vlad§inger tlk 02:28, 13 February 2008 (UTC)[reply]
I find that when I look at it, it gets "stuck" in one direction, either counter or clockwise, but then if I look at it out of the corner of my eye it "switches" to the other direction and then gets stuck in that. Try looking at it, turning away so that it's in your peripheral vision and see if it changes then. --Nealparr (talk to me) 07:40, 4 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]
  • I did provide a reason. It isn't encyclopedic because it is breaking the laws of physics...gravity being the major thing here. A real person doing this would fall down. Just because its "cool" dosn't mean its FP material, especially since it isn't scientifically accurate. It also isn't the best example of an optical illusion since not everyone can see the direction change. pschemp | talk 06:07, 13 February 2008 (UTC)[reply]
  • That's absurd - this isn't a scientifically accurate image on the far simpler grounds that it's bobbing up and down without any upward movement/thrust. But it's not illustrating anything scientific and therefore doesn't need to be scientifically accurate any more than this does. It's an illustration for a noteworthy Optical Illusion not an illustration for dancing --Fir0002 06:41, 13 February 2008 (UTC)[reply]
  • Its a crappy optical illusion, much better ones exist that illustrate the concept. It is extremely important that it doesn't work for everyone, that reduces its encyclopedic value down to zero when we are talking about the concept of an optical illusion. The title is the spinning dancer, yet doesn't show an accurate spinning dancer, since that movement isn't possible in life so even the name is misleading. Also, just because it illustrates an article about itself, doesn't mean it FP worthy either. It is nothing special, misleading and a poor example of an illusion. People who vote for it because it is "cool" or "amazing" are the absurd ones. Find a real reason - one supported by FP standards. pschemp | talk 06:55, 13 February 2008 (UTC)[reply]
  • Every picture in every article is "relevant". That doesn't make every picture on WP FP worthy. This is simply not an example of Wikipedia's best owrk and no one so far has supported it for any reason related to FP standards. pschemp | talk 14:23, 13 February 2008 (UTC)[reply]
  • 1) Yes, it does make them worthy, provided they meet the FP standards. We aren't here to judge article notability. 2) Your assertion that people haven't supported it for FP standards violates the Good Faith assumption. 3) You see the figure as rotating in three dimensions right? That's part of the illusion whether you can switch directions or not - after all, there is no depth info here. 4) I suggest you take a breather and reconsider your whole approach to this nomination. de Bivort 15:20, 13 February 2008 (UTC)[reply]
  • That it has 2 3d interpretations (CW and CCW) is what I was referring to. Like a Necker cube. Your examples of depth-conveying images are not considered illusions because they are typically perceived in a single way, rather than in one of two ways. That some people cannot easily switch the perception from the CW mode to the CCW mode does not reduce the extent to which this is a classified as an illusion. de Bivort 17:26, 13 February 2008 (UTC)[reply]
  • That's the exact opposite of your earlier comment. Returning to the original issue, it's not a very good illustration, because it seems to spin invariantly clockwise (I assume the reference point is above the figure) for three people here - Pschemp, Darwinek and myself. I'd hope we can produce a better version of it so that it works for everybody. That failing, I have a difficulty with recognising its notability as an optical illusion, or its encyclopaedic value on such a basis. Samsara (talk • contribs) 17:47, 13 February 2008 (UTC)[reply]

For those having difficulty seeing the illusion:

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Concentrate on the spinning dancer on the left and the one on the right should spin in the same direction

Before Closing Nomination

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This message is for the one who closes this nomination. I would like to point out that many people have opposed simply because the illusion "does not obey the laws of physics". This image is demonstrating a biological phenomenon and not something concerned with physics. Others have opposed because they can not see the the 2-way spin. This too, I believe is not a sufficient reason, as it is possible to see it spin both ways with a bit of concentration. Muhammad(talk) 10:53, 19 February 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Promoted Image:Spinning Dancer.gif MER-C 03:59, 20 February 2008 (UTC)[reply]

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