Here's a cool auditory illusion that may or may not cause you to question your sanity. According to Wikipedia:
A Shepard tone, named after Roger Shepard, is a sound consisting of a superposition of sine waves separated by octaves. When played with the base pitch of the tone moving upwards or downwards, it is referred to as the Shepard scale. This creates the auditory illusion of a tone that continually ascends or descends in pitch, yet which ultimately seems to get no higher or lower.
The way to really get the experience is to play it again, again, again, and again. And it'll just seem like the sound keeps getting higher in pitch and tone. Best way to keep the illusion from breaking is to keep your mouse button on the very beginning of the YouTube play bar and when the video reaches the end click and you'll be able to continue listening. [via - Boing Boing]
You can get the a similar effect by watching an auger turn (or even simpler, a screw).
Abusive comment hidden.
(Show it anyway.)
very cool also try the zooming b&w tunnel effect displayed in the u tube video screen it really meeses with the eyes.wow
Abusive comment hidden.
(Show it anyway.)
wow...thats does mess with your head
Abusive comment hidden.
(Show it anyway.)
That is amazing!
Abusive comment hidden.
(Show it anyway.)
Ugh. I tried to make my mind expect the original tone, but it doesn't work! Stupid mind >=(
Abusive comment hidden.
(Show it anyway.)
Protect the peaches!
Abusive comment hidden.
(Show it anyway.)
Sorry, my head is already messed.
Abusive comment hidden.
(Show it anyway.)
doesn't work for me? I can only suppose that's a good thing!
Abusive comment hidden.
(Show it anyway.)
Neat trick.
Abusive comment hidden.
(Show it anyway.)
Huh. I still don't understand how this works. I followed the seemingly ascending pitch with my voice (and yes, I am a classically trained singer), and the pitch did indeed go up on the musical scale as far as my vocal mimicking was concerned. I have a three and a half octave range, but eventually I couldn't follow it anymore! So that, to me, is the really interesting question. If it's not actually ascending, then why is it that a reproduction of that scale, and one which at least SEEMS to be accurate to the ear, definitely and unmistakably DOES ascend in pitch?
Abusive comment hidden.
(Show it anyway.)