collision detection: The "Anti-colorblindness test": Can you see the hidden image?

June 28, 2006

The "Anti-colorblindness test": Can you see the hidden image?

See that red box above? It's an "anti-colorblindness" test: It contains an image that only the colorblind can see. Aaron Clauset developed the idea and designed a few images that you can check out on his web site; as he notes ...

If it's painfully obvious that there's another image there, then you're probably colorblind to some degree in the red part of the spectrum. Can't see it? Try looking at the white space at either side of the image, you might be able to see the object by using your contrast-sensitive rods (which are concentrated more heavily in your peripheral vision). Don't give up if you can't see it, that's the whole point -- this is an *anti* colorblind test.

I love this idea: A way of regarding colorblindness so that it is a special ability, not a visual handicap. Keep in mind that my replication of his "red" test above has it shrunk down to half-size; the effect probably doesn't work unless you go look at the original test at full size here. He also shows the solutions here, in case you're still scratching your head wondering what secret the pictures contain.

(Thanks to Reddit for this one!)

Posted by Clive Thompson at June 28, 2006 01:08 PM

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Comments

Funny, I was just thinking about this the other day. People with red-green dichromatism, the most common kind of colorblindness, ought to have one other special ability that people with normal vision lack: the ability to watch a 3D movie with those red-green glasses, without getting a headache from the contrasting colors! :-)

I've never asked a colorblind person whether this is true or not, but now I'm gonna have to...

Posted by: otherthings at June 28, 2006 2:13 PM

Very cool! If you find out, let us know here!

Posted by: Clive at June 28, 2006 2:44 PM

Damn! I'm colorblind! Not the greatest news for a graphic designer.

Posted by: Mark Lerner at June 28, 2006 4:03 PM

So am I! Hmph!

Posted by: Maryse at June 28, 2006 5:08 PM

Color display being the inexact thing it is, just because you can see the shape doesn't necessarily mean you're colorblind. I found I could make the number appear or disappear just by changing my monitor's gamma. I'm sure a printed version would be a bit more foolproof!

But I wonder: has this ever been tested in a real experiment, double-blind and with controls and all that?

Posted by: otherthings at June 28, 2006 6:25 PM

I wonder too! Good point about color display, too.

Posted by: Clive at June 28, 2006 7:40 PM

Yippi, I'm colourblind!!!

My first super power! Finally!

Posted by: eke at June 29, 2006 6:01 AM

Heh.

Posted by: Clive at June 29, 2006 12:47 PM

That's funny. When I looked at the gradient, I just saw a gradient with, _maybe_, a little bit of blobbiness in the middle. After I looked at the revealed picture, all of a sudden the six popped up on the original picture. Colorblindness, or just an annoyingly persistant visual memory?

Posted by: orc at June 29, 2006 4:28 PM

Well, colorblindness can indeed be slightly emulated in non-colorblind people by having them look at different colors and sources of light, apparently.

Posted by: Clive at July 2, 2006 5:28 PM

I was amazed by this test when I first saw it. The 6 doesn't jump right out at me, but I see it nonetheless, and the circle I can see plain as day.

I've failed numerous "Ishara"-type tests... it's nice to see one in which the "majority" population can't see squat, and us color-blind folk can see it all! :)

Posted by: pianomanpaul at June 10, 2007 11:56 PM