On a similar vein to implied shape, though with a notable difference are
perception illusions. These illusions show ambiguous figures in which the
brain's perception may change very rapidly without any change in what is
seen by your eye. If we recall the Dalmatian image from "implied
shape', you will note that you could see either a 'meaningless jumble of
shapes' or a 'dog'. Once seen, the dog is by far the dominant shape as it is
a recognizable form. For pictographic ambiguity, there is no 'Dominant
Shape', as both images are more or less equally dominant, depending on your
focus or perspective, or simply how you view it..
In its simplest form, a perception illusion shows 2 or more simple shapes
that 'fit' together. It was this type of image that was made famous by M C
Escher, although this example of a goblet [ or is it two faces in
silhouette!] introduced by Edgar Rubin in 1915 predates Escher
The most enjoyable type of pictographic ambiguity is rival-schemata
ambiguity. In this type of illusion, the different pictures are contained in
the same space, but it depends on how your mind interprets dominant features
and lines as to which image is seen at any one time. While viewing any of
the images, our mind can suddenly invert what our eyes see, often with a
suddenness that is surprising.
Micropause
