Why do we see colors in a black-and-white top?
When a pattern drawn only in black and white is rotated, people sometimes perceive colors that are not actually present. This phenomenon, known as "subjective color," has been studied for approximately 200 years as one of the remarkable mysteries of vision. Among such phenomena, Benham's top is a well-known example in which colors are perceived simply by spinning a black-and-white disk.…
When a black-and-white pattern is rotated, some people see colors that aren't there. This puzzling effect, called subjective color, has been a mystery of vision for over 200 years. One famous example is the Benham's top, a spinning disk with black and white stripes that makes colors appear. Scientists have now used an artificial intelligence (AI) model to explore how this illusion works.
They showed a black-and-white Benham's top to an AI trained to predict what images will follow when watching natural videos. Even though the images didn't contain any color, the AI generated subtle colors in its predictions. These colors changed based on the motion and color of objects in the training videos. Experiments with real videos, 3D graphics, and simple videos of red, green, and blue squares showed that linking motion to color may be a key to how colors emerge from black-and-white stimuli.
The researchers believe this illusion may not happen only in the retina, but could also be linked to the brain's ability to predict future visual input based on past experiences. By using AI, this study offers new insights into the ancient puzzle of why we see colors in black-and-white spinning tops. The study, led by Kyohei Ueda, a graduate student at the Laboratory of Neurophysiology, National Institute for Basic Biology, and SOKENDAI, is published in Scientific Reports.
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