The image, created by digital media artist and software developer Øyvind Kolås, tricks your brain into ‘filling in the gaps,’ taking the cues from the colored lines to predict what the rest of the picture should look like. Kolås calls the experiment a ‘color assimilation grid illusion,’ and is simply different colored grids laid over a greyscale photo.
“An over-saturated colored grid overlaid on a grayscale image causes the grayscale cells to be perceived as having color,” Kolås said about the experiment on his Patreon page.
It isn’t only grids that have the desired effect, although they appear to be the most effective for most people. Dots and lines also work to create the illusion in a similar fashion, with the lines working best to produce overall color for me personally.
What about you?
You can see the experiment in video form below
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