What color dress, or how our brain perceives color

Editorial Layfhakera understand why a seemingly simple question such as "What color dress? ", divided in half online, and picked up some more optical illusions that amaze not less.

The essence of this unusual phenomenon is the different perception of light to be reflected by our brain.

Before we always have a choice of how much light falls on the retina.

Illumination of an object depends on two factors: how much light hits the surface, and which part of it is reflected. In the case of dress, some users have apprehended blue and black as the colors with sufficient lighting, but a lower degree of reflection. The second option - less illuminated, but have a greater degree of reflection of white and gold.

Thus our perception of colors depends on the image processing so-called top-down. It starts in the brain and continues its movement, filtering information through personal experience, expectations, certain eye movements, or even the fact that we saw a few minutes before. For example, for a certain color perception may be affected by the fact that you've seen the dress (or tissue) of the same texture and shape before.

Scientific research in the majority of cases do not pay attention to such individual differences in perception. This phenomenon is generally usual, because the light that we interpret for yourself every day, too, is a certain shade of blue.

Whatever it was, this disagreement has become a colossal scale. Discuss unfortunate dress had everything, including the stars. According to statistics, about 75% have seen gold and white, and the remaining 25% - black and blue.

I do not understand this odd dress debate and I feel like it's a trick somehow. I'm confused and scared. PS it's OBVIOUSLY BLUE AND BLACK

- Taylor Swift (@ taylorswift13) February 27, 2015

ROYAL BLUR DRESS pic.twitter.com/VznUmv96Cz

- Conz Preti (@conz) February 27, 2015

For those seeing #WhiteandGold in #TheDress (http://t.co/pNG9tXu5pU), @HopeTaylorPhoto ends the debate. pic.twitter.com/W7TwQJy13m - Adobe (@Adobe) February 27, 2015

Controversy on this subject were so zealous that, according to information publication Mashable, 16 pairs had to swear because of disagreements.

* Breaks up with boyfriend bc he sees white and gold *

- lina (@Linaxtweets) February 27, 2015

Boyfriend and I just spent five minutes yelling BLUE AND BLACK NO WHITE AND GOLD at each other I've never been so upset - amelia (@ameeliargh) February 27, 2015

When your boyfriend thinks the dress is black and blue and you think it's white and gold @ Brawski93#byeeepic.twitter.com/6qC3g08jKJ - Molly Lawrence (@ M0llyLawrizzle) February 27, 2015

Fighting with my boyfriend cause I see white and gold and he sees blue and black. pic.twitter.com/huw9vOxain

- Jessica Tarin (@Littlejaay) February 27, 2015

That dress is gold and white but boyfriend says blue and black. he said I'm colorblind and I said that he's a LIAR. - rebeca (@ohrebeca) February 27, 2015

During its brief existence, the image has already become a meme, and get your own hashtag #TheDress, who led the corresponding prices in USA.

My dad gave the best response to #TheDresspic.twitter.com/m3trhUHgtN - Adam Olson (@itsOpeningDay) February 27, 2015

tomorrow on every news channel #TheDresspic.twitter.com/zv5lokf2C6

- Zoë ❀ (@_IAmArabella) February 27, 2015

All this white / gold meme reminds me of is the end of Sleeping Beauty when the fairies keep changing her dress color. pic.twitter.com/s7X48Ab154 - OhNoSheTwitnt (@OhNoSheTwitnt) February 27, 2015

* Opens twitter * #TheDresspic.twitter.com/vn4uxDAECp

- Common Desi Dude (@CommonDesiDude) February 27, 2015

when you do not know the color of the dress pic.twitter.com/sQI7YLnjk1 - mike no chill (@PUNKASSDOUCHE) February 27, 2015

This phenomenon is a kind of variation of the well-known optical illusion Adelson with a chessboard. In the picture below the cell "A" and "B" of the same color.

In addition, there is still a lot of different variations on this theme, some of which edition Layfhakera gathered below.

And what color of the dress you see? Write about it in the comments.