The Ames room is a trapezoidal room that is viewed from a peephole in the side of one of the walls. Because of our assumption that rooms are made of parallel walls, we dont see the room as a trapezoid but as a square.
When 2 objects are placed in the corners of the wall opposite the peephole, 1 will appear to be much bigger than the other, even if they are actually the same size.
This illusion is caused by our faulty perception that
the objects were placed against a parallel opposite wall with a flat ceiling, instead of a slanted wallwith a sloping ceiling. The difference in size can be attributed to the actual difference in the objects'distance from the peephole, but because our assumption is that all rooms are rectangular, we see the further object as being unexplainably smaller than the closer object.
Our brain is tricked by the illusion's use of forced depth perception through manipulation of relative size. We naturally perceive objects that are further away to be smaller in size than objects that are closer. This means that if there were 2 identical books placed on a desk, the book that was 10ft away would appear smaller than the book 1ft away, even though they are actually the same size.
In the Ames Room illusion, the 2 objects in opposite corners of the room appear to be the same distance away from the peephole, but they are not. Since the object in the further corner is in actuality farther away from the peephole than the object in the closer corner, that is why it is seen as being smaller.
However, when combined with the Gestalt principle of perception that 'we create images that are a meaningful whole', we impose the image of the objects on an un-slanted wall, because we assume that the room is a square (rooms with parallel walls are more meaningful to us than slanted rooms with sloping ceilings, because our experience with rooms say that they are generally square/rectangular).
When the brain combines the image of the different sized objects (relative size) with the perception that the objects have been placed against a flat wall (gestalt principle), we appear to see 2 objects that are actually different sizes, instead of being the same size but different distances away from the peephole.
In the Ames Room illusion, the 2 objects in opposite corners of the room appear to be the same distance away from the peephole, but they are not. Since the object in the further corner is in actuality farther away from the peephole than the object in the closer corner, that is why it is seen as being smaller.
However, when combined with the Gestalt principle of perception that 'we create images that are a meaningful whole', we impose the image of the objects on an un-slanted wall, because we assume that the room is a square (rooms with parallel walls are more meaningful to us than slanted rooms with sloping ceilings, because our experience with rooms say that they are generally square/rectangular).
When the brain combines the image of the different sized objects (relative size) with the perception that the objects have been placed against a flat wall (gestalt principle), we appear to see 2 objects that are actually different sizes, instead of being the same size but different distances away from the peephole.
So, I wanted to see Ames room in reality, I made it for an experiment.
This is a development figure of Ames room.
Test
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