Open AccessInverting the Wollaston Illusion: Gaze Direction Attracts Perceived Head Orientation
Author(s) -
Heiko Hecht,
Ariane Wilhelm,
Christoph von Castell
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
i-perception
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.64
H-Index - 26
ISSN - 2041-6695
DOI - 10.1177/20416695211046975
Subject(s) - gaze , orientation (vector space) , head (geology) , illusion , psychology , cognitive psychology , geometry , geology , mathematics , geomorphology , psychoanalysis
In the early 19th century, William H. Wollaston impressed the Royal Society of London with engravings of portraits. He manipulated facial features, such as the nose, and thereby dramatically changed the perceived gaze direction, although the eye region with iris and eye socket had remained unaltered. This Wollaston illusion can be thought of as head orientation attracting perceived gaze direction when the eye region is unchanged. In naturalistic viewing, the eye region changes with head orientation and typically produces a repulsion effect. Here we explore if there is a flip side to the illusion. Does the gaze direction also alter the perceived direction of the head? We used copies of the original drawings and a computer-rendered avatar as stimuli. Gaze direction does indeed alter perceived head orientation. Perceived head orientation is biased toward the direction of gaze.