Magic Eye is a popular illusion created by manipulating a repeating pattern to create a 3D image. It was developed in 1991 by engineers Tom Baccei, 3D artist Cheri Smith, and programmer Bob Salitsy. The process involves creating a hidden artwork, creating a 2D visible pattern, and rendering the illusion.
To create a Magic Eye 3D image, you need a repeating pattern image, a target 3D object, Jasper Art, and an online stereogram generator. A Magic Eye image starts with a programmer creating the hidden image as a grayscale, smooth gradient depth map where dark points should be placed.
MagicEye.js is a tool that allows users to upload images or play around with a gallery of already-made ones. To create a Magic Eye 3D image, you can use dots (option in the program) and find any image on the internet.
To create a Magic Eye 3D image, you can input variables such as text, clipart, and pattern, and click “Make Stereogram”. Once you start to see depth in the image, relax your eyes while focusing on the deeper part of the illusion.
📹 Magic Eye: The optical illusion, explained
The science behind the stereogram craze of the 1990s. You might have remembered when sterograms appeared on Seinfeld.
How to do Magic Eye for beginners?
Magic Eye 3D Viewing involves holding the printed image up to your nose, focusing as if looking through the distance, and slowly moving the image away from your face until the two squares above turn into three squares. If you see four squares, move the image farther away until you see three squares. Once you see three squares, hold the page still and the hidden image will magically appear. The longer you look, the clearer the illusion, and the farther away you hold the page, the deeper it becomes.
How are Magic Eye illusions made?
Magic Eye, developed in 1991 by Tom Baccei, Cheri Smith, and Bob Salitsy, is a technology that uses a repeating pattern to control perceived depth and hide a three-dimensional image in a two-dimensional pattern. The hidden image is created as a grayscale gradient depth map, with darker points farther away and lighter shades closer to them. A 2D pattern is then created to camouflage the image. A computer program using Magic Eye-patented algorithms uses the image model and pattern to orient repeating patterns to the intended depth of the hidden image. If the image is not visible, it may be due to eye alignment or dominant eye conditions like astigmatism or cataracts.
How do you practice Magic Eye?
Direct your gaze to the right-hand side of the screen until a third image is observed in the center of the screen.
How do people make stereograms?
Stereograms are created by placing two identical or nearly identical images side by side, which can be perfectly viewable or random. When focusing behind the image, the dual image comes together into focus. This process is similar to how children can see a birdie in a dot patterned poster at the mall. When the child focuses behind the image, the brain interprets the newly focused level as the level the image is at, triggering depth perception and allowing the viewer to see a three-dimensional image. The process of creating a stereogram involves focusing behind the image, allowing the viewer to see the image clearly.
Can you print a Magic Eye?
Magic Eye images can be easier to see on paper than on a computer screen. To view the 3D image, hold the center of the printed image up to your nose, focus as though looking through the image into the distance, and slowly move the image away from your face until the two squares above turn into three squares. If you see four squares, move the image farther away until you see three squares. Once you see three squares, hold the page still and the hidden image will magically appear. The longer you look, the clearer the illusion, and the farther away you hold the page, the deeper it becomes.
Is the Magic Eye real?
In 1979, Christopher Tyler, a student of Julesz and a visual psychophysicist, combined the theories of single-image wallpaper stereograms and random-dot stereograms to create the first black-and-white random-dot autostereogram. This technology allowed people to see 3D shapes from a single 2D image without the need for optical equipment. In 1991, Tom Baccei and artist Cheri Smith created the first color random-dot autostereograms, later known as Magic Eye.
Ron Kimmel described a computer procedure that extracts hidden geometry from an autostereogram image, adding smoothness as an important assumption in surface reconstruction. In the late 1990s, many children’s magazines featured autostereograms, and gaming magazines like Nintendo Power had sections dedicated to these illusions. Magic Eye Beyond 3D: Improve Your Vision was a key publication that brought this intriguing illusion into the mainstream.
How to generate AI illusions?
Photoleap’s HiddenFace feature allows users to create hidden faces in photos by blending portraits into various scenes, such as serene landscapes and vibrant cityscapes. This innovative AI-powered feature allows users to choose their illusion, share, or print the image. The feature also enhances social media presence with eye-catching art that stops the scroll, allowing users to merge their photos with mesmerizing presets like Tokyo’s city lights or serene autumn lakes.
Can AI make Magic Eye?
The autostereogram, also referred to as a “Magic Eye,” is a prevalent artistic form that can be crafted using artificial intelligence (AI) image generators and Adobe Photoshop. The process is straightforward and can be further refined with the use of an online stereogram maker tool, which enables the creation of three-dimensional artwork.
Can everyone do Magic Eye?
Autostereograms, which are based on stereo vision, are not accessible to everyone due to various visual impairments, including amblyopia, which affects 1% to 5% of the population. People with poor or dysfunctional eyesight during a critical period in childhood may grow up stereoblind, as their brains are not stimulated by stereo images. If these vision problems are not corrected in early childhood, the damage becomes permanent, and adults will never be able to see autostereograms. Depth perception is influenced by monocular and binocular visual clues, with binocular vision playing a crucial role in depth perception for objects close to the eyes.
How do artists create optical illusions?
Artists use lines, angles, and shapes to create visual illusions, creating a sense of dimension and movement. They use color selection to create optical illusions, using complementary colors to make objects pop or recede. Warm hues step forward, while cool shades create distance. Gradients and blending create smooth transitions, giving the illusion of movement and depth. Checkerboard patterns create bulging or sinking effects on flat surfaces.
Simultaneous contrast tricks our eyes, making colors appear to shift against different backgrounds. Shadows and highlights create illusions of objects popping out of the page. These techniques create a sense of depth and movement in the artwork.
Why can’t some people see magic eye?
Binocular and stereo vision impairment can be caused by various factors, such as deviations or misalignments of one or both eyes, dominant visual stimulation, astigmatism, or cataracts. If you suspect an eye problem, consult an eye doctor for testing and treating your stereo vision. Magic Eye problems can be resolved through technique, such as crossing your eyes, squinting, and practicing with an index figure and a picture on the wall. If these strategies don’t work, Magic Eye offers step-by-step instructions.
📹 GO FOR THE WIN – animated 3D stereogram with a moving hidden picture
Switch to 1080p for better experience. You can also try playing at 2x speed. There’s no sound in this video. Would you like our …
For those of you who are having trouble seeing it, really all you can try to do is imagine that whatever screen you’re looking at is transparent, and then try to look past it, “into the distance”. The beauty of these pictures is that once you hit the right amount of divergence, the repeating patterns will lock themselves into place, and you’ll be able to look around and see the hidden stuff freely, without your eyes converging back. Then, do it enough times and you will have full control over the divergence. Take it slow though. Start with the picture with the Airplanes, Dinosaurs and Cakes, it is a HUGE help! For those of you who are gonna say that this is fake, the hidden message at 6:31 is “wow you did it” and “good job”, and for the still skeptical, the one at the end is a winky face.
I picked up one of those Magic Books in a bookstore back in the 90s and started reading it. I was fascinated immediately and bought it. It took me a couple minutes and I could see everything. Now after 30 years I can see them in just a split second. I also learned how to do the crosseyed method. My wife has never been able to figure it out and she used to think I was pulling her leg with it. Then the school our son goes to had a science day and had magic eye type pictures. No one was able to get them, then I open the book, and I am like, “horse, truck, boat, cow, etc. the second each page was turned. My wife is laughing because she thought I was lying, but the teacher said, “he’s right, on all of them!”
One thing people forget to mention is, in addition to diverting your eyes you must also keep your eyes (head) parallel to the picture. If the pic is straight then turning your head to one side or the other (even slightly) will make this much harder. There were a couple in this article that were skewed to the right and I needed to turn my head to see the image
1:05 Moscow Building 1:39 VW Beetle 1:40 Triangular prisms from above 4:33 A piggy 4:36 A heart 4:41 Open palm reaching towards you 4:45 A giraffe 4:48 A fishy 6:27 Weird interweaved shape 7:06 Deers playing in a beautiful garden that pops out 7:19 Some squares (hard) 7:24 Lots of cut out recangles overlapping 7:34 Tons of prisms coming at ya 7:35 Same 8:02 dunno lol 8:17 A flower 8:23 Two heads 8:24 A lion or some animal 8:43 A deer 8:44 A turkey with a hat on I dunno; 9:15 A winky face 😉
When I was a child, I would sometimes accidentally focus each eye separately on a a repeated image in a chain-link fence. This made these stereograms easier to see later, occasionally even doing a “double-deep” where you focus each eye on point’s double-wide apart, making the image appear deeper, or in the case of “Magic Eye” (I own a first edition), scramble the image in some cases. Cool piece by Fong!
As a person who has only had the full use of one eye since birth, this has been very interesting to see the mechanics of how this works. I’ve never experienced the images that others have, nor any effect from 3-D pictures or movies. My limited depth perception is built from other senses (as shown at 2:22). Quite interesting for sure – thanks, Joss.
Another interesting information: There are actually 2 ways of seeing those. I have always seen the 3D-pictures, but they went INTO the book. When I spoke with my fiance about this book, she told me that they were coming OUT OF the book. That confused the heck out of me. Apparently I have been doing it correctly, but also incorrectly??!?! Did someone have the same experience? (Btw, this book was also an immense hit in Germany!)
I first noticed this effect as a child staring at a ceiling with a repeated pattern. I noticed sometimes that the pattern seemed to pop out of the ceiling. I was a scientifically minded child and quickly worked out what was happening. I didn’t see one of these stereogram images until much later but my experience as a child meant I could immediately see the image. It’s pretty cool.
1:05 = church 4:34 = mouse/pig 4:35 = heart 4:41 = hand 4:45 = long neck dinosaur 4:48 = fish 6:26 = weird shape like electron revolves around the nucleus in an elliptical path 7:04 = 3 fawns playing just right above the sun flowers 8:00 = whale/shark (obviously) 8:17 = a single flower 8:23 = front and side view of a bald man’s head with slightly long neck 8:24 = goat
I just managed to view it and am quite amazed. I can’t really describe the shape, but it was an enjoyable experience. I was able to expand my field of vision to see the whole shape. I was even able to pan my eyes around the page while still having a clear perception of the shape. I’ve never seen such a clear stereoscopic image before, though I don’t think I’ve ever tried it drunk before.
The first time I saw one of these was an (at the time) new fast-food restaurant in town. We went there on an almost weekly basis, so we got a lot of practice learning the trick (it was poster-size and framed, so using our own reflection as a cue helped a lot). The image was fairly busy, with an eagle flying back to its nest carrying a freshly caught fish.
I’ve been doing something about these wrong my entire life and I can’t figure out what it is. Every magic Eye picture appears inverted to me; Like, instead of seeing the cathedral, it was like seeing an impression of the cathedral punched into a flat sheet of paper. In the example with the planes, dinosaurs, and cakes, the planes seemed furthest away and the cakes seemed closest. Does this happen to anyone else?
Hold the center of the screen right up to your nose. It should be blurry. Focus as though you are looking through the image into the distance. Very slowly move the screen(face) away from you until the two squares above the image turn into three squares. It will take 20-30 seconds for your brain to figure it out.
This popped up on YouTube today. I was commenting to my wife how this was the best article on autostereogram I have ever watched, when the shark autostereogram I made when I rewrote the corresponding Wikipedia article came up. Even then I wasn’t surprised. Later the credits came up. Kudos to the team for attention to the last detail. This is truly a master piece, not only in content, facts, and excellent explanation, you really put your 100% into it. Bravo.
If you’re still having trouble there’s a trick that helped me: watch this article on a tablet or smart phone, pause on one of the images so you have plenty of time, bring the phone close to your face so your nose is almost touching it and you see the iPhone in double vision, imagine looking through the phone at the wall behind it and slowly move the phone away from your face, keep your eyes focused on the wall behind the phone, don’t fixate on the phone, and try not to blink. When the phone is at the right distance from your face the image should pop out! It may fail the first couple of times, just keep trying. Good luck!!
For me, the biggest help is to make it so you can easily “look through the image”. This means having something reflective in front of the image. Something like a transparency sheet. Then, you can hold it up to the page or screen and look at an object reflected by it. The 3D image should easily appear.
For anyone who is having trouble with the stereograms: The first time I watched this article, it was from a smartphone. I couldn’t see a thing. The next time I tried on a bigger screen (notebook). It worked in all of them. In bigger images it gets a little bit easier to achieve focus! Good luck everyone!!! 😉
I found I had to tilt my head to the right a little to get the guide dots (and the planes, dinos and cakes) to line up horizontally. The guides really made a huge difference; I haven’t been able to see a stereoscopic image since the 90s, and then only with guide dots. I seem to recall the Magic Eye books don’t have the guide dots, so I could never see the pictures. Thank you for explaining how these work, especially with the ‘wallpaper’ type; knowing that each eye looks through its own image helped tremendously.
I can do these in a different way that will show the opposite affect. For example say if there is a magic eye with a squirrel that pops out i can make it so the squirrel goes in instead of out. The way i do it that way is to look at the imagine and go completely cross eyed and then bring the two images together.
How to unlock divergence looking (simplified) Make use of your hands. (fingers specifically) Hold your left point finger about 6 inches in front of your nose. Hold your right point finger about an arms length in front of you. Make sure when you hold your two fingers, they are not at the same focus plane so that you can shift the focus of the two. Now look at you left finger and have focus on your right finger. This creates a “cross-eyed” view. Typically we can do this at ease. Now shift your look at your right finger but your focus on your left finger. At seems that your looking past at your left finger. This is called divergence viewing. You can adjust the varying focus of divergence by moving your right finger closer to you.
I have 3d pictures of myself taken in the early 80’s …I gave my son the book in this article, I havr major vision problems and I have begun to see in a different way. I can now catch a ball without looking at it. Because it uses so much of my eye power I tended now to see things very quickly. Its very weird to be going blind but able to see things before anyone else would.
I could do most eye tricks, but Magic Eye stumped me. What I finally figured out is: hold one hand flat, straight up with the pointer-finger resting on my nose. This makes it hard for each eye to see to the opposite side. Then I look across the room to diverge my eyes and relax, then look down at the Magic eye image. I’m surprised that I’ve never seen this trick described anywhere. Maybe in the past twenty or so years it has.
I LOVE these things!!!!! I was always really good at it, like I can see 3D in each of these things in less than a second. My older sister, for as long as I can remember during my childhood, made sure to tell me everyday that I’m not good for anything and she will always be the better child. Well guess who still can’t do these Magic Eye pictures?😂 It’s such a silly thing, but these Magic Eye books always made me feel so proud!
Yeah I just try to see double vision and overlap the two dots without doing the extra step of trying to get four dots and then three dots. I just try to overlap the two dots that are already there and that’s how I see it and it usually goes a lot quicker. And it’s the same idea in the picture because it’s always repeating patterns. I picked two of the patterns that are right next to each other and I just get those two to overlap instead of trying to do it that way because when you’re actually trying to put it into practice when there are no dots then it gets hard to do because you can’t make four of the patterns so that’s why I just tried to get two patterns to overlap and then go from there.
My dad was into these so we had several books about it including one really nice one that did a thorough exploration of the history of stereograms and besides the typical “magic eye” ones also had vintage stereo photographs and a number of Salvador Dali’s stereo paintings (yes Dali was into 3D goggles)
To prove that you have no depth perception with one eye, hold out your hands so that you can only see them in your peripheral vision when looking forward. Then with your left hand, point at your right hand and vice verse so both hands point at each other. Then, with both eyes open bring your two pointer fingers together, tip to tip. Pretty easy. Now do that with one eye open. It gets a lot harder as you can’t perceive depth anymore.
I think i’m the ones who doesn’t really see it. The thing is sometimes when I talk to somebody and something moves at the corner of my eye I already know what has happened than the person who noticed it just because of the sound because it’s clear that they noticed it because of the sound because they flinch or say something. It’s like you always notice everything you see at a time, so as I am typing this I can see that our electric fan is moving side to side and my sister is constantly changing positions in the bed, sleeping. And also if I focus enough on a kind of dark area while i’m focusing on there’s a grey-like shadow that creeps from the corners of my eye til it just covers all I can see until I move my eyes even just a bit and everything would be back to normal again. That’s just how my eye works I guess.. Unless I have some weird things happening in my eye that I don’t know of. (sorry for my grammar. English is really not my first language.) 🙂
We don’t see from a 3d perspective but rather a 2d perspective, like pictures. To understand this better, look at 3d street art. This means depth is perceived aka the depth perception, but because we’re IN the 3d dimension if you could actually see in all 3 dimensions LxWxH you would be able to see any object all at once.
“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” (Jeremiah 29:11) “You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.” (Jeremiah 29:13) “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only son; whoever believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.” (John 3:16)
If “imagine” to look into distance is too hard, maybe you can try the cross-eye method. Simply put your finger approximately 10cm from the picture and FOCUS on your finger tip, then SLOWLY adjust your finger closer or further from the image. At the right focal point, you will see the 3d image behind your finger, then you can take your finger away for better observation. However, with this method, the depth of the image will be inverted.
It’s 2 in the night.. I am trying to see this fkxxng image thing for almost an hour now Iam nauseating…my head’s bursting…all I could see is coloured wierd structures…..and maybe Iam right there’s a whole community of people who claim to see 3d structures.. maybe they are just faking it… world can be grouped into two groups those who see 3d structures (who obviously are faking it),those who do not see any fkng thing…. just weird colours…these are true’people…. ***Joss Fong is gorgeous though…
From someone who spent years trying & failing with the usual methods, try this: Simply imagine a ‘popup’ book or gift card made entirely from the exact same wrapping paper (ie the backdrop has the same pattern as the cut-out shapes in front of it). Or imagine looking down at an origami object made from newspaper placed on top of an actual newspaper. This is what the result will resemble. Part of the problem is that if you don’t know what to expect, you won’t know when it starts to appear. I had no idea if I was waiting for a smiley face or the Mona Lisa! Now that you have a better idea of what you are seeking go back and try the various methods. I wish someone had told me this years ago as I’m sure it would have broken the spell.
I find it’s like where if you put your finger in front of your eye, everything around it that you’re not focusing on, is blurry. Then look beyond your finger see everything else clearly & your finger becomes blurry. That switching is how you focus on the pictures to see the thing in them. Pull it away slowly & it’ll pop up.
Some people really cant see stereograms. Which is why they are used by optometrists to figure out if you have binocular vision. If your pupils naturally point into different directions when you are a toddler, the two images the eyes send to the vrain are too different to integrate them into one picture. Thus the brain learns to subconsciously ignore one of the two eyes’ input completely. Although you have both eyes open, your brain is in fact only using one of the two images. This defect (pupils pointing in different directions) can be corrected through surgery, but if the sensitive phase for learning to integrate to pictures into a 3D image is over, you may never be able to “3D”. People who’s brains havn’t learned to process binocular cues usually can’t see things pop out in 3D movies either. And that’s the story of why some people don’t see anything in autostereograms.
The first image of the cathedral was not a decent example: even if you succeeded in adjusting your perception to the correct calibration of the image, the image itself was vague. The art made it confusing. I had no idea what I was looking at, even though I did achieve depth perception. The art should match the hidden image, so that once you achieve stereoscopic vision, the image actually makes sense.
I first watched this article on the TV and couldn’t see any hidden images. Then I watched it on my iPad and I could see them, as the screen was a lot closer. I tried again perusal it on my computer with the monitor further away than the iPad and I can’t see them again. Divergence works better when you are viewing something quite close.
This is how I always solve spot the difference. Its also how i accidentally created another dimension in my bathroom. I got white hexagonal tile with black grout wallpaper and the poor neighbour that put it up for me didn’t know what was going on with his eyesight and getting dizzy and when finished he haf mismatched the line right opposite the toilet so now everytime I go to the loo I get free magic eye and I can get it to go from 1 to 2 to 3 to4 lines of tile that stand out and I can get it to where 1-12 rows stay behind where the wall actually is and the rest of it moves out into the room at different stages even to where it looks like I can touch it even though the wall is 5ft away, sooo trippy 😂😂😂😂
I still don’t understand why so many people can’t see these. like, do you all have zero control over the muscles in your body? have none of you ever found interest in knowing how to move one eyebrow, or move your lips independently, or move your ears independently? and don’t tell me there’s some genetic component here, like some can’t do it because they weren’t born with it; it’s muscle control and all it takes to learn, like learning anything, is interest in it.
The only issue is that you can see it as a bulging out or 3d kind of way or in a cut out or depth kind of way. The bulging out is the intended and more beautiful and better way while the cutout way could give you the shape but it won’t have the 3d effect. And the issue is, the intended bulging image is way tougher to achieve than the depth cutout way.
I was always a bit disappointed with these when I was younger… turns out I was doing it wrong the whole time!!! I was focusing all wrong and seeing the image as if it was ‘hollowed out’ of the pattern, I’ve only just figured out how to do it the correct way after perusal this and now see the image as if it is ‘popping out’ of the pattern towards me. Much better!! Anyone else have this problem?
OH MY GOD! I COULD FINALLY SEE IT. Yes, is one horse there is a tree with no leaves and there is a trunk the horse jumps. For you to see it, put you’re phone touching the tip of your nose on the centre of the screen and leave it there for three seconds and slowly pull apart your phone but keep looking at the centre, don’t move you’re eyes anywhere. And when you’re moving your phone slowly you’ll be able to see it. Now, there are times you’ll be see like three not complete horses in that 3D shape. Just move your phone to angles so you can see it complete.
This works best on a big screen, just adjust your focus like you are seeing some more farther then the screen itself (like screen is 10cm away then adjust your eye like its 15 cm away) . If you want to see the log then make your screen at a certain angle such that the upper part of the screen is farther and the lower part is closer to your eye until u see a 3d wall and a base on which the horse jumps over the log . It looked like a cardboard box and inside it is a horse just like a puppet running over logs of wood .
Wow. That’s just cool. I hate that none of my friends and family can make their eyes do that. It took me about 3 seconds to see an hd image of a horse running. Ppl think that I’m literally crazy or on dope when I tell them what’s there, lol! Just looked at it again. I didn’t notice the dead tree over and over b4! Lol
I finally saw the horse head but it’s repeated around 7 times horizontally and I can’t make up the full shape of it with the body and legs it’s all jumbled and hard to connect, and no 3d effect, don’t tell me just seeing it IS the “3d effect” because that’s lame since you can basically hide any object behind a 2d random pattern and call it seeing 3d once you see the object.
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At first i was like what is it ? Am i retarded or something ? why am i not able to see this and why is everyone commenting its cool and all but then i relaxed my eyes and put the screen way close to my eyes till the point it got blur then slowly started taking the phone further away while relaxing my eyes and suddenly saw a horse running towards the right..being very honest it was worth the time
This is the first time I saw one. It’s a running horse. And it’s beautiful. I didn’t realize it’d look 3D like this. 😮 For those who wants to see it, first unfocus your eye. Then when you see the horse, slowly focus on it. You will clearly see a horse running. If you have hard time unfocusing eye, hold your phone in front of your eye then slowly move it away until you see the horse. Then focus on the horse. Trust me, once you see it, you’ll clearly see it. No need to do this focusing thingy again.