Optical Illusion of The Day: Oh No! The Rug Is Sinking!

Posted: 01 Mar 2012 08:33 AM PST

I’ll admit it, this Sima Pashtun rug illusion, created by Mauricio Lara and Sebastián Lara, took me a little while to see. At first I thought it was just supposed to look like it was melting or stretched out, but once I saw the crazy extra dimension it adds to the floor, I couldn’t unsee the illusion.

While you might hope that it looks even more like quicksand with someone standing on it, the result is, unfortunately, quite the opposite – showing exactly how flat the rug really is. In fact, the rug is quite anamorphic being as how the illusion really only works when viewed from the proper angle without anyone standing on it to interfere with the design.

As for how the rug itself was created: well, it may look totally unique, but it’s actually quite traditional. In fact, the technique used to weave this design was a 3,000 year old Tibetan style. I guess it’s true that everything old will become new again at some point…