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Busting the Myth of the Multi-Colored Dress

Over-night one dress has broken the internet. A photo of a dress posted on tumblr appeared blue and black to some but white and golden to others. Social media feeds blew up.  Millions of people argued on these two distinctly different colors. Well, the secret’s out and it has nothing to do with the mood of the viewer-the dress is…blue.

This disparity in color recognition can be explained as a simple optical allusion; it just takes a basic understanding of the way the eye works.

  1. The image enters the lens of the eye as light.
  2. It goes into rods and cones and is sent to the brain through neural connections.
  3. The brain then processes the image you are seeing.

In this case, it’s blue. The issue occurs when the viewer’s brain over-absorbs the amount of light in the image, changing the color represented. The amount of light that is given throughout daylight changes the color of the image.

The dress is blue but not quite as blue as some may see. The amount of light the lens takes in either darkens or lightens the image drastically. This photo posted on www.wired.com, shows the contrast of the photos that is shown with different amounts of light.

multi colored dress

Mark Mierzejewski, physics teacher at Woodland Regional High School, gave another example of an optical allusion to help understand how such different colors could be seen on one image.

Stare at the black dot in the center of the photo for at least thirty seconds without moving your head or blinking.

colored american flag

Now stare at a white sheet paper and you may need to blink a few times.

If your eyes are reacting correctly you should be seeing a normal red, white and blue flag. You are seeing the complimentary color of the actual color. This occurs from fatigue in the retinal process.

When we look at the photo for too long or in the strong lighting we are seeing the complimentary color of the actual color, a gold-like color for black and a light tint of blue or white for royal blue.

This particular dress and its colors are an extreme example of how the lights can change the pigment of the color.

So moral of the story ladies, when picking your prom dress be aware of the possible optical allusion or viral controversy your evening wear may ensue.

 

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Julia is our Executive Yearbook Designer and Photographer, and she has spent four full semesters at Hawk Headlines. She loves her dogs, Missy and Champ, and sometimes goes by the alter ego "Culia Jaruso".

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