<IMG src="http://farm1.static.flickr.com/140/350778385_dca7f746f2_m.jpg" align=LEFT vspace=10 hspace=10 title="it happened sort of like this, but with DUST... so rays were blinding the sh*t out of me">Story about my childhood... I was about 3 or 4 years old when this happened often... When I was in Mexico, I used to live in a place where the streets were dusty. At night, cars would drive to the streets and leave the dust in the air, and it would make lights shine their rays of light through the dust to make the light of the cars go through the dust, just like in a theater. When cars would come towards me, shining their light through the dust, I'd see their lights, and everything in between the cars and me would cast a shadow with rays to my line of sight. People walking either AWAY or TOWARDS from me would look the same to me. I would have to stare for a LONG TIME to see if they were walking AWAY or LEAVING. I could see the lights of the cars behind them and their silhouettes, but trying to figure out if they were walking AWAY or TOWARDS me would drive me nuts!!!! I had to study this sh*t carefully. THis was difficult... they were also MOVING, and my brain worked so f*ck*ng slow! I finally figured out that [DUH!!!] if the silhouettes of the people got LARGER, they were walking TOWARDS ME... if the silhouettes got SMALLER, they were walking AWAY from me. Neat sh*t, huh? <br clear=all>DON'T LOOK AT THE CAR, just the FRONT of this person's face. Is he looking AWAY or TOWARDs you? I can see the 3d images at the mall and can now control my thoughts successfully so that I can see the girl going CW or CCW.
it definitely just keeps switching back and forth. one way for about 20 sec. then switches again for another 20 sec. it's just a gimmick.
For the last time, the image does NOT change direction. She always rotates back-first. As a result, the direction she spins depends on the way you perceive her to be facing initially. Here's a simpler version if it helps... The guy below rotates back-first around a pivot leg to face the other direction. Did he spin clockwise or counterclockwise? <img src=http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2170/1555188719_c3eb48ad64.jpg?v=0> There are only two ways to perceive his back-first spin. Depending on the direction you think him to be facing initially, he spins in different directions...and on a different pivot leg as well. <img src=http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2137/1556174794_91410bc20f.jpg?v=0> You can complain all you want about how she wouldn't be anatomically correct, but that's the way we're able to change the direction she spins at will. We perceive the figure to be facing the opposite direction, and it starts spinning the other way. That's also the reason why I thought she was spinning clockwise but my nephew thought she was spinning counterclockwise...even though we were both viewing the animation at the same time.
Ok maybe I am just screwed up. Depending on how I see it, w/o focusing on the lines, I can see it the pole turning left or right. Hmmmm ....might not have been a barber's pole. Might have been something else I saw years ago that was similar. Nevermind.
Actually, I digress. When I did the "cover the top and the feet" trick, it will switch at your will. Try it.
I don't know if you'd want to put all of your trust on an unemployed biomed engineer though Back on the topic, my trick is to concentrate on her knee area and then imagine her rotating leg going in the other direction right when it as at its farthest away distance from her body, if that makes any sense. Another thing, looking at all of the images posted on this thread is giving me a head ache.
Even easier, concentrate on her pivot foot and switch the rotation when the pivot foot is at its longest length; I can actually make her switch rotation every 1/2 turn. FUNKY
My uncle and I finally came up with this conclusion after staring at the thing for 20 minutes. Afterwards, we can sort of change directions at will. It really does depend on your initial supposition. Which is why people can get it to change directions by looking away and coming back. I do wonder about the left brain/right brain suppositions though. Both my uncle and I favor the left brain, based on what was said in the initial post. Yet both of us see the picture moving clockwise much more often than counterclockwise.
Its the same for me now. I concentrate on the foot, and then I can manipulate the direction at will. I can even make it appear to swing side to side without fully revolving.
This is ******* trippy. Amazing how our brain perceives things. What I did was just cover everything except the feet and imagine the feet like a pendulum - swinging all the way to the left, coming back to the center, then swining all the way to the right. Then when I want her to go CW, i just 'let go' and look at the whole picture when her feet is swinging to the right, and when I want her to go CCW i do the same trick except her feet is swinging to the left. DAMN TRIPPY, nice find topic creator.
Late to the party but I finally managed to see it in both directions. For those saying that the pic is a gimmick and that it changes back and forth - no it doesn't. Just get another person to look at it with you, you will be seeing different directions at different times.
I can do it now too...clockwise or anticlockwise as I want. Just focus on the shadow and tell yourself which direction you want her to spin.
