Gene Kang: Opponent Process Theory

Note: This works best if watched in full-screen.



This video shows a "color illusion", similar to the the U.S. flag and the Jesus one we saw in class. The only difference is that this illusion has a much wider range of colors, and thus is more visually impressive.
Color illusions such as this usually provide a picture with opposite colors(for example, a picture of an originally red ball would be green). There is a small dot in the middle, and the viewer must stare at that dot for a given period of time, usually 15-30 seconds. Then, after the time is up, either a blank page or, in this case, a color-less photo is shown. Remarkably, the viewer somehow sees a fully colored and very visible picture of whatever they were staring at, whether it be a flag or a beach.
This phenomenon occurs because of the Opponent Process Theory, or the theory of color vision stating that color-sensitive visual elements are grouped into red-green, blue-yellow, and black-white elements. In other words, if one part of a colored pair is no longer stimulated, then the other part is activated. Thus, we see a blue beach and green trees, because the picture we were staring at before had a roughly yellow beach and slightly reddish trees. These colors were probably not completely yellow or red due to the fact that the human eye can perceive over millions of different colors, meaning that the shading would have to be precise and not simply a solid primary color.