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I've acquired a new superpower
241–250 of 583 posts
Re: I've acquired a new superpower
#242At a local bar they had a game machine, and if you got a high score on any of the games, your tab for the evening was free. One of the games was a "spot the differences" between two pictures with an ever decreasing timer for each round. Using this trick I was able to easily surpass the high score, and garner a crowd watching me perform this mind numbing feat. Probably my peak fame right there.
I can't overlap the images to save my life - they get like halfway there and that's it...
There is a way to help yourself.
Put the pair of images in front of your eyes.
Bring your finger between your face and the image.
Now look at your finger.
Move your finger back and forth.
While doing this, notice that at a particular distance, the images in background will perfectly overlap each other.
That's your moment.
Pull out your finger and look at that image.
---
Should take lot less tries to learn doing it without finger. I have taught cross eye to my siblings and cousins using this method. But if you always need finger to focus it's fine.
Re: I've acquired a new superpower
#243This is incredible! Works unbelievably well. Thanks for sharing!
Re: I've acquired a new superpower
#244We got a magic eye book when I was maybe 6 - some time early elementary school. After learning how to do it, and also trying it by crossing my eyes to see an "inverted" image, I started doing it whenever I saw some repeating pattern IRL. It was most interesting when it was slightly uneven, for example a fence with sloppily applied vertical planks. Doing the magic eye would make it seem like some of them are closer to…
I wrote a paper about doing this using human eyes as the "repeating pattern" (either someone else's, or your own in a mirror): https://philpapers.org/archive/ALEDSK.pdf ...You can use this trick to make boring meetings or conversations mildly more amusing (but be careful not to look like a clown crossing your eyes).
If you're an expert at this, you can even do it to your own hands. Hold both hands in front of you but with one of them palm-away and one of them palm-toward you, so that they have the same shape, then cross- or parallel-view them to get an illusionary middle third hand. Walk around while focusing on the third hand and it's a seriously trippy effect.
Another "super power" application similar to OP: the ability to confirm whether or not two distant digital clocks' seconds-digits are perfectly in sync. Since they're distant, it takes time to shift one's gaze from one to the other, making it hard to confirm whether they're in sync. But cross your eyes so as to reduce the distance, and voila.
Yet another application: quickly assume the same head-tilt angle as your conversation partner. Suppose they tilt their head to the left by N degrees and you want to tilt yours the same way, how can you be sure you have the exact correct tilt? Easy: parallel-view their eyes (as described in the aforementioned paper). You will HAVE to tilt your head the same as them in order to see their "third eye" (and once you've locked on to their third eye, you can effortlessly adjust your head tilt as they do by using their third eye as the necessary guide)
Re: I've acquired a new superpower
#245I found it almost instantly, which was by dumb luck.
But in the following few moments, seeing two nearly identical photos side by side soon made me think of stereograms, since I'm into them, and have shot a few in my lifetime.
I then used my eyes to overlap the images.
In binocular overlapped view, the difference loudly draws attention to itself, because it flickers between the two eyes.
It's almost as if there were a blinking LED saying "here it is!"
Re: I've acquired a new superpower
#246For anyone who wants to learn this, try this way using your finger as a helper.
Put the images in front of your eyes.
Bring your finger between your face and the image at almost middle of the distance.
Now look at your finger.
Move your finger back and forth and notice the background (where your picture is)
While doing this, notice that at a particular distance, the images in background will perfectly overlap each other.
That's your moment.
Pull out your finger and look at that image.
--
It worked on everyone I have tried to teach. You may always need help of your finger or a tip of a pencil or whatever. But it's lot easier to get those images to merge this way.
Re: I've acquired a new superpower
#247At a local bar they had a game machine, and if you got a high score on any of the games, your tab for the evening was free. One of the games was a "spot the differences" between two pictures with an ever decreasing timer for each round. Using this trick I was able to easily surpass the high score, and garner a crowd watching me perform this mind numbing feat. Probably my peak fame right there.
Failed to perform the technique despite multiple retries, but didn't have any issues spotting differences the normal way for all except the impossible mode - which just felt like it would be tedious.
My usual method is just to brute-force linear scan from left to right, top-to-bottom. May not be elegant, but it works.
Re: I've acquired a new superpower
#248An alternative technique called “divergence” [1] (pulling your eyes apart) is significantly less straining on your eyes than crossing them (“convergence” [2]) while being equally as effective spotting differences, even on video. It’s also what your eyes naturally do when you watch stereoscopic 3D with tinted glasses—the stereoscopic images are pulled out (divergence) not pushed in (convergence/cross-eyed). I’ve been…
Do you have a training method for divergence?
Similar to the finger moving closer and closer to the upper nose technique, for convergence.
Re: I've acquired a new superpower
#249I have a true vision-based super power. my vision is so bad with nearsightedness that when I take corrective lenses off, I can focus on an ipad mini screen within 10" of my face and perceptually it is the same as focusing on a distant movie theater screen. No straining, eyes totally relaxed. With the lights off, it's better than being in a theater. I tried an ipad pro in the Apple store and it felt like I had my own…
I have really bad vision too (my prescription is left: -8.00, right: -7.50). Tried this out, and yeah, really works! And realized, you need the best resolution screen possible, because you can see every detail.
Not sure how much I'll use this is the future, but good to know it's always an option!
Re: I've acquired a new superpower
#250At a local bar they had a game machine, and if you got a high score on any of the games, your tab for the evening was free. One of the games was a "spot the differences" between two pictures with an ever decreasing timer for each round. Using this trick I was able to easily surpass the high score, and garner a crowd watching me perform this mind numbing feat. Probably my peak fame right there.
Failed to perform the technique despite multiple retries, but didn't have any issues spotting differences the normal way for all except the impossible mode - which just felt like it would be tedious. My usual method is just to brute-force linear scan from left to right, top-to-bottom. May not be elegant, but it works.
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