Try to figure out how there can be 12 people one moment and 13 the next.
I think I am satisfied with what I have figured out, but I don't think I could set the illusion up myself. Porter is not satisfied with my explaination. Anyone out there want to take a crack at describing the solution in simple terms?
Posts: 7050 | Registered: Feb 2004
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Hmm, I think that when part of the picture digitally gets up and moves around, part of the mystery is lost.
Posts: 2258 | Registered: Aug 2003
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It's not the pixel I'm complaining about, I just expected something a little more... illusiony.
Posts: 2258 | Registered: Aug 2003
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Okay, it looks to me like in the triangle puzzle, when the yellow piece is moved from the top position to the bottom position, it actually sticks out slightly further to the left than the original hypoteneuse of the triangle. So the entire bottom triangle is just slightly wider and taller than the top triangle. But the difference is entirely compensated for by the thickness of the triangle's outline, so you can't see the difference.
I'm imagining that the people puzzle is similar. The people are divided in half in several different proportions, some getting larger or smaller as the pieces shuffle. Somewhere in there, there is enough of a difference to make a new dude. Notice, for instance, that the far-left guy loses his scalp completely. So while there are 13 people in that version, there are only 12 scalps ... Man, this one is weird ...
Posts: 1907 | Registered: Feb 2000
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Hey, yeah, we could do this with circles, and it would be obvious. Take a row of twelve circles, divide it down the middle horizontally, and then shift the top half one circle to the left. Now, instead of twelve shapes, you have thirteen. Two are obviously only half-circles, but still, thirteen shapes. To someone who can't tell the difference between a semicircle and a full circle, it's a miracle.
If you slide the circles up and down, offsetting them from each other, you can make that difference much more subtle. If the far-left circle is high and the far-right circle is low, then the two half-circles that remain are more like scalped circles.
Make all the shapes irregular so that you can't tell that all the pieces are mismatched, and your little puzzle has the perfect disguise.
[ April 02, 2004, 03:47 AM: Message edited by: A Rat Named Dog ]
Posts: 1907 | Registered: Feb 2000
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