Is The Diamond Moving Or Still? Watch Mind-Boggling Optical Illusion

A mind-bending optical illusion has gone viral on Twitter this week. Called the Perpetual Diamond, it features a purple diamond on a grey background. The puzzling optical illusion will make your brain think that the diamond is moving on the screen, even though it stays completely still. The illusion is achieved with the help of a series of flashing lights behind the image which trick the brain into thinking the shape is moving in different directions.

The optical illusion was created by researchers Oliver Flynn and Arthur Shapiro from the American University in Washington DC, reports BBC.

The optical illusion was shared online by Arthur Shapiro, who wrote: "The diamond remains fixed in one place but appears to move up, down, left, or, right. See how far away you can be from your screen before the effect goes away."

Take a look at the Perpetual Diamond optical illusion below:

The perptual diamond: The diamond remains fixed in one place but appears to move up, down, left, or, right. See how far away you can be from your screen before the effect goes away. From https://t.co/XRFKTtjOfm pic.twitter.com/af7BOUCvfC

— Arthur Shapiro (@agshapiro2) June 2, 2019

The optical illusion has gone viral online, leaving many confused. It has collected thousands of 'likes' and retweets on the microblogging website.

Interesting, moved away about e feet, movement stopped, then after about t seconds began moving again.

— DuRand Jones (@durand54) June 3, 2019

That's just a breathtaking effect - love it! https://t.co/x3IZXN1vxr

— Gavin Buckingham (@DrGBuckingham) June 2, 2019

The spectacular illusion is produced because of the diamond's flashing background in combination with its thin borders, the researchers explained. The illusion can be potentially used as a tool for tests of spatial contrast, temporal contrast, contrast gain, and color contrast.

What do you think of this illusion? Let us know using the comments section.