Color Perception & Optical Illusion Topic

Before I begin, let me apologize for the long length/spacing of the topic. This is on purpose.

I thought this was silly, I mean... I see gold and white of course (well, really I see gold and blue), but D sees blue with black. In the past we've had discussions about what a color is on FFXIAH concerning certain game icons, so I thought this might be a bit fun to try.

Let me know what you think. Do you see a Black/Blue dress? A Gold/White? or a Gold/Blue?


So... this is a silly thing going around the internet, and now news stations. Here is the picture:



What color is the dress?

This is the question that has made everyone stupid crazy, and fighting with each other in some cases.

Before you scroll down to the breakdown of what color the dress really is, I want you to take a good look at the above, and decide what you think. Is this a white dress with gold lace, or a blue dress with black lace? or... a blue dress with gold lace (this is what I see).




So....




The person who took this photo, also bought the dress for a wedding.



http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00SJEUCWU/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1634&creative=19450&creativeASIN=B00SJEUCWU&linkCode=as2&tag=bithedress-21&linkId=LIATY5TENJ7ORHXX

and here she is wearing it:




So, why does the photo at the wedding look different than the original photo taken that is making everyone argue whether or not the dress is white/gold, blue/gold, or blue/black?

Shadows and strong light behind it screwing with the camera. Cameras are not the same as eyes. The camera was overexposed.

What matters is whether or not you perceive the photo as overexposed in general or as having a deep shadow cast over the dress. Your brain will automatically correct for whichever one you believe, and you'll see either white/gold or blue/black.


So, what are the real colors of the photo? Is it really blue on black?

Let's pull out the RBG values...




There really isn't any black here, not a single pixel is black. The reason why some people don't see gold/white or gold/blue is because of how our brains work. Saying it again: "What matters is whether or not you perceive the photo as overexposed in general or as having a deep shadow cast over the dress. Your brain will automatically correct for whichever one you believe, and you'll see either white/gold or blue/black."

Even if you invert the photo (right side), it will not change whether you see a gold/white or black/blue dress.





Let's take the original amazon photo:



and let's replicate the overexposed shot (white dress with gold lace. Cranking up the exposure, crushing the shadows, and increased the color temp will produce this:



Now, there is no trickery here. This is a what people see the white dress with gold lace as, and I don't think anyone can argue that. Otherwise... maybe it's your monitor...



This is what people see the original photo as the blue dress with black trim.



Now, why do our eyes work like this?

It's a matter of how your mind interprets the lighting. A white-and-gold dress in cool lighting/shadow could have produced that photo, as could a black-and-blue dress in warm yellow lighting. Your mind determines the colors of the dress based on what it assumes the lighting to be like.



The left side is a blue dress with black lace, the right side is a white dress with gold lace.

Let's brake these 4 sections out and separate them a bit so our eyes can distinguish between them.

I DID NOT EDIT THE IMAGE AT ALL, EXCEPT CROPPING AND SEPARATING THE 4 SECTIONS APART. I DID NOT EDIT THE COLOR VALUES AT ALL. THE RGB VALUES BELOW EACH SECTION ARE THE REAL COLORS FOR THE STRIPES ON THE DRESS.

Closest Color Name: Gambogeish Black #282725 Closest Color Name: Moderate Phthalo Blue #424BA6

Closest Color Name: Grayish Gold #827C58 Closest Color Name: Phthalo Bluish Gray #9094B7

Closest Color Name: Dark Grayish Gold #65613C Closest Color Name: Grayish Phthalo Blue #7A80A2

Closest Color Name: Moderate gold #CEBA5B Closest Color Name: Light Spring Budish Gray #F2F5EC

The main thing to take away here are the names of the two "golds" and the two "blues". The left gold is named "Grayish Gold" while the right is "Dark Grayish Gold", and the left blue is named "Phthalo Bluish Gray", while the right is "Grayish Phthalo Blue". They are very similar to each other, which why each of us sees the dress differently.

Let me do this with the original photo as well, but this time I'll remove the background and only show the dress itself.

		Average Color Name: Dark Phthalo Bluish Gray #60616A
		Average Color Name: Dark Sapphire Bluish Gray #5F6473
		Average Color Name: Dark Sapphire Bluish Gray #4F5565
		Average Color Name: Dark Grayish Amber #5B4F34
		Average Color Name: Dark Grayish Gamboge #3C372D
		Average Color Name: Dark Sapphire Bluish Gray #585F72
		Average Color Name: Reddish Brownish Gray #524D4D

I'm sorry for the long OP, but I just thought it was pretty cool. Yea, this is all because of a bad camera shot, but this sparked a color debate war on whether it was gold/white, or black/blue, and I just think that's pretty cool how the mind works.

Holy ***.

Then why bother posting?

wanted to post the SpongeBob rainbow?

One question why is this a thing ?

I look at the original pic, and the one where she is wearing it...so where was I supposed to see white and gold? The original picture seemed to me blue with a dark beige frill, and the girl wearing it seemed to confirm so(though I'd confuse it for black there easily).

So...huh? I didn't understand any of this.

And there is why this is "a thing"

please keep the negativity out of my topic, thank you.

Ever since i saw this stupidity hit my news feed i went "Shittily done overexposed camera work." And then it went to being stupid to me how someone would argue either way.


But that comes from someone who has some knowledge in ambient light, overexposure, and shadows :<

Graphic Design is a gateway drug kids, and drugs are bad.

But i personally believe people see whatever they want to see depending on which three of the same picture they saw first...and then its all human stupidity and perception based arguments from there.

edit: super sorry its o negative, i find the offshoot topics about this interesting aswell but its super downplayed because of the root problem, someone did a bad with a camera.

I made a relevant and honest comment on the topic. What do you want?

I agree the camera shot was bad, but the whole discussion isn't about the camera shot, or the dress.

It is how our minds perceive the colors, even if it's just an image.

The fact that D, and seha see a black/blue dress, while I and many others see a a gold/white or a gold/light blue dress, is why this has spread so much.

I agree that arguing over it is stupid, but I think the mind is amazing when we can pull out the RGB values of the pixels of the image, but people still perceive the image differently. Not because one or the other is stupid, or they are color blind (because neither D or myself are), but because our brains work differently.

I did a lesson today teaching them about counterargument, and I used this dress as the key for their debate.

I'm talking about Jet and Fonewear. You just proved my point.

You see a black/blue dress in the original image do you not?

I see a gold/light blue one.

I'm trying my best to keep the nonsense out of the topic. I quoted you to prove my point while those two were so quick to make fun of it.

Ugly dress regardless of colour.

I dunno, I thought it was a bit of fun everyone getting worked up over this, for the record, I originally saw it as gold and white but now I only ever see it as black and blue.

It's hard to keep what you perceive as nonsense out of a topic when it's created based on nonsense.

I know you won't understand that though, so carry on.

This isn't about if the dress is pretty or not.

It's about how our brains process the color telling us what the color is, and that we all see it differently.

I only see white in the second mannequin.No that's not white, it's light blue. Like I said I don't see any white anywhere.

You sir, are the spawn of Satan.

Most guys see it as blue and black, me, my brother, my dad. Women see it as white and gold. My mom, sister, and niece all saw it as white and gold.

I saw this picture early yesterday and..
"why the hell are people saying it is Blue and Black?"
hours later, picture went viral, saw it again
"horry ***it is blue and black, did someone PS it?"

looking at the texture I thought it was some sort of white satin fabric, asit why it had some shine and reflected some light and shadow.

also I think a lot has to do about the lighting the user has, or the color where the picture is place (usually a white or black background) as it can alter how one perceives colors, especially if you have other colors to compare them to.

I saw it as a waste of money.

Beelzebub has a devil put aside for me.

*checks* well I'm a dude and I see a bad picture of a bad dress.

Can see shadows and multiple colors depending how I adjust my eyes.

ok, this explains my confusion.
the 1st picture I saw number #1
2nd picture I saw was in between 2 -3

I see a pale powder blue dress with gold lace trim. (Yes, I know it's black and blue. That doesn't make me actually SEE it as black and blue.)

Anyways, fascinating how people can look at the same dress and see two completely different things. Eyeballs and light and science, it's cool!

That is interesting. Particularly the part where it's explained why people see the white and gold.

I wonder if it has any bearing on whether or not people who see white and gold are better or more susceptible to optical illusions?

This is the first I've heard of this :O NEAT!

I agree, that's why I thought this was so interesting.