Monday, November 22, 2010

The McGurk Effect

A bizarre optical and auditory illusion.

BA.. BA.. BA..

FA.. FA.. FA..

8 comments:

Kamiel said...

somehow this illusion isn't working for me i only here ba ba ba ba

cybrbeast said...

Hmmm, I hear FA FA FA when he mimes it with his mouth.

dekus said...

Weird, I only hear FAP FAP FAP...

annom said...

hehehe. Works for me. Interesting how it not works for Kamielkaze.

I am impressed. Never been aware of such a strong audio-visual connection.

There must be more examples, unless speech is a very specific part linked to vision.

cybrbeast said...

I think speech is special and we pay extra attention to lip movements to make our comprehension of speech better. Also consider how deaf people can read lips well enough to not need hearing.

Maybe that's also a reason why it's hard to understand people in very noisy places. When they are shouting in your ear you can't see their lips move.

dekus said...

I agree with Cybr. When I talk to a girl in a bar I always try to look at her lips whilst she's talking. Despite the fact that I can't read lips I hope that it will aid me subconsciously. However her glossy, smooth, candy flavoured lips with that soft, juicy tongue hitting her pearl-white teeth always make me end up -> click

p.s. My first name is very hard for deaf people to "hear" (read lips). Try it in the mirror...

cybrbeast said...

Forever alone :)

pimp-a-lot bear said...

very interesting.