DOI: 10.1177/20416695231187800 ISSN:

The zooming-speed illusion: A meta illusion?

Hiroshi Ashida, Akiyoshi Kitaoka
  • Artificial Intelligence
  • Sensory Systems
  • Experimental and Cognitive Psychology
  • Ophthalmology

A movie taken from the front window of a running train, with zooming in and out, has been popularly acknowledged as a perceptual illusion such that the train motion is perceived as much slower when zoomed in. This is, however, not a real illusion because the image speed varies as a function of the focal length of the lens. This could be a meta-illusion, that is, an illusory sense of illusion, that might reflect a lack of understanding of how zooming changes the geometrical structure of the image.

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