They also reported not hearing the noise when they looked at the GIF without the shake added.
This is brought out by a cropped version of the GIF that created (see below) that showed just the grass with the shaking effect and people reported that they heard the noise when looking at it. It is interesting to note that it seems to be the shaking or shudder effect that seems to create the effect, rather than the visual imagery of the skipping pylon. We know that there are many cross-modal effects, such as the McGurk effect (in which what lip-movement people see affects which syllable they report hearing) or the Sound-Induced Flash Illusion (in which the number of flashes that people report is affected by how many beeps they hear).
What people see is affecting what they seem to hear. In the GIF of the jumping pylon, however, there is a cross-modal expectation (that is, involving more than one sense, such as vision and hearing) effect taking place. This shows that what you see can affect what other things that you see. For example, if you look at the figure below, many people report seeing the central figure as a “13” when they read downwards and as a “B” when they read across. Demonstrations of this effect are common within one sensory modality. We know that expectation can affect what you experience. It is expectation that is causing some people to hear the thuds. Here at the Illusions Index, we report that we find ourselves imagining the sound, though we don't actually hear it. The remainder of respondents, around 1,400, chose not to reveal whether they had heard anything. Fourteen per cent of respondents, just under 3,000 in total, said they heard no sound, while under a thousand of the 20,000 polled said they heard 'something else'. As of 4 December 2017, 75 per cent - around 15,000 people - claimed they heard 'a thudding sound'. The sound isn't really there, so it seems that those people are suffering from an auditory hallucination caused by the GIF.ĭr Lisa DeBruine, a psychologist at the University of Glasgow, posted the animation, asking: ' Does anyone in visual perception know why you can hear this gif?' She added a poll asking what people experienced when watching the GIF. Some people report hearing a thumping or boinging sound when watching the video. The image consists of a moving GIF of a Pylon skipping and a shaking effect is added when the pylon hits the ground. The illusion occurs when the senses get crossed in the brain, like hearing and sight, Fassnidge told The Verge.Īccording to Psychology Today, synesthesia is a neurological condition where people experience "crossed responses to stimuli." In the case of this GIF, that thud and shaking that happens when the pylon lands triggers some viewers to feel or hear it, even without sound.The Skipping Pylon has become something of an internet phenomenon with several articles being written about it (see the reference section below).
One reason users might be able to feel or hear this GIF? Christopher Fassnidge, a doctoral candidate in psychology for City, University of London, tells The Verge it's synesthesia. Twitter user been credited with creating the GIF, but the animation took off after another user, Lisa DeBruine, asked whether any one with expertise in visual perception could explain why you can "hear" this GIF. There's no sound, but do you hear a thud in your head when the pylon lands? You are likely not alone. Watch this GIF of a pylon leaping and landing on the ground between two other pylons as if it's jump roping. It's like the blue and black dress (or white and gold) all over again.