Patrick Hughes’Reverspectivesdemonstrate the importance of perspective
as a source of information about the structure and layout of the three-dimensional (3D)
world. More recently, he has created a new work of art—Hollow Dice—in
which the actual concave structure of the dice is seen asconvex. In this
article, we examine the similarities and differences between these two perceptual
phenomena as well as attempting to explain how and why they arise. Popular interest in
both effects is based on the fact that “what we perceive” does not
correspond to “what the reality is.” As a consequence,ReverspectivesandHollow Diceare often categorized
and labeled as “illusions.” However, if we consider theinformationthat
is available in patterns of light reaching our eyes—rather than the “actual” 3D structure
of theReverspectivesand theHollow Dice—we are in a
better position to explain how the size, the viewing distance, the perspective features,
the convexity bias, and observer movements determine what we see when viewing these novel
and fascinating visual effects.