Akiyoshi's Illusion Pages

Akiyoshi Kitaoka's university-hosted collection gathers motion, color, shape, and depth illusions into one gloriously dense index. The famous Rotating Snakes leads the parade, but the real pleasure is wandering into decades of experiments, explanations, and stranger corners.

What is Akiyoshi's Illusion Pages?

The homepage wastes no time on a polished gallery shell. It lines up named illusions with short descriptions, then opens into a thicket of numbered latest-work pages, themed collections, papers, books, talks, and small programs. Rotating Snakes is the obvious headliner: a stationary design associated with apparent motion. Nearby pieces make square floors bulge, concentric circles masquerade as spirals, and checkered fields seem to wave. That mixture of scientific demonstration and hand-built web archive gives the site its character. It feels less like an exhibition with velvet ropes and more like being handed the keys to a perception lab's overstuffed specimen cabinet.

What you can do there

• Browse motion, color, shape, and depth illusions
• Open themed collections and explanations

Why we picked it

The page connects an immediately legible visual trick to a much deeper body of perceptual-psychology work. Its unruly link density is part of the charm: every convincing illusion seems to have three cousins, an explanation, and another hallway behind it.

How to get the most from it

Begin with Rotating Snakes, then compare it with Rollers, Primrose's field, and A bulge. If an image seems motionless, shift your gaze rather than staring at its center; independent explanations note that peripheral viewing and eye movement can strengthen some effects. Use the page list when the homepage's link forest gets too thick.

Good to know

Some works create apparent motion from stationary patterns, and the creator warns that motion-sensitive viewers may feel dizzy or sick. Stop if discomfort starts. Browsing is free, but image reuse is a separate matter: commercial use is restricted and educational or research reuse may still require a request. The interface is a dense, old-school university page rather than a guided modern gallery.

Who made it, and when?

Akiyoshi Kitaoka is the credited creator or organization. The earliest supported launch date we found is 2002. A documented update was recorded August 12, 2026.