3-D sound. These require your headsets for full effect. It really sounds like the sound is happening around you.

I once had a whole collection of these kinds of sounds, with all kinds of neat stuff. Music, a woman whispering in your ear (it tickled my neck…honestly felt like someone was there). If I find it again, I’ll definitely hit you with an update.

Secondly: Audio Illusions. These blow my mind.

To experience them, follow these links, then use the “download this” link provided on the page. You can listen to it on the page, but not with the repeat, which enhances the experience. Then open them up in your media player, making sure the “repeat” option is activated.

When repeated, you can’t tell where these sound files end and where they begin!

Ascending Tones. They go up and up and up…

Falling bells. Annnnd we go down and down again…this one’s beginning and end are more obvious, but they give some insight into what you just heard.

We can’t slow down! I love this one!

Appreciate your ears today.

More excellent photography and cross-eye-3D images are at Genes Digest. via haha.nu

I must be slow – it just looked like a random street picture to me at first. A friend had to point out the folks in the upper right. I wonder how they walk sideways like that?

Want to create your own dragon illusion? Download the PDF with instructions here.

Like me, you probably answered false, right? In fact, they’re actually the same! I didn’t believe it, and figured it was a joke or used some other trick … so I copied each square into Photoshop:

Even now that I know they’re the same, I still can’t see it in the original picture no matter how hard I try. Thanks to Edward H. Adelson at MIT for creating this!

Due to the abundance of bad roadside ads, I typically admire cool, funny, or just amazingly creative billboards while driving. Below are my choices for top 10 real billboard advertisements:

10. Bic ad:

Apparently located in England. However, this is the only one of the ten that I can’t independantly confirm as being real (if you’ve seen it, let me know where). Picture via

9. Moving and storage ad:

I saw a few of these in New York last time I was there. At the time, I thought it would have been much funnier if the adjacent billboard read: “Why store your doll collection? There’s plenty of freaky people on eBay!” Picture via Billboardom

8. Max Factor mascara:

This cool billboard changes from an attractive model to a make-up nightmare when it rains. Not sure how this is supposed to help sell more mascara though. Picture via Frederik Samuel

7. Sign from God:

Funny and a clever play on words – definitely more amusing than the other dozen or so “Billboards from God” dotting our highways. Picture via

6. Ikea – The page cannot be displayed:

This electronic billboard was supposed to be showing a real advertisement, but it looks like Windows (or their network) pooped out. While almost certainly not intentional, something tells me this would make a great ad for a Microsoft competitor. Picture via

5. Gain – Irresistible Scent:

3d billboard ads are popping up everywhere, particularly in big cities. This is one of my favorites, probably because it’s the first laundry detergent ad that was both effective and made me laugh. Picture via

4. Ford Mustang Blurred Motion:

This simple Ford Mustang billboard isn’t painted – it was actually created using a special type of semi-transparent material that blurs the scene behind it to make it look like you’re moving really fast, regardless of weather. UPDATE: looks like this was just a concept by Ian Hart, would have been a great ad though.

3. Nike 10k in Buenos Aires, Argentina

Another new trend is interactive billboards. In this ground level billboard, passersby can walk or run on the enclosed treadmill. For every kilometer run, Nike will donate a certain amount to UNICEF. Picture via Briefblog

2. Massive 3d Adidas goalkeeper:

To make sure they weren’t upstaged by Nike or other rivals, Adidas constructed this massive 3d advertisement at the Munich airport for the 2006 World Cup. Defining this as a billboard may be a stretch, but it was too cool not to include. Picture via

1. Summer 2006 Cartoon Network:

These funny ads showed up in the summer of 2006 all over the country. Most people had no idea what they meant, and the uncertainty heightened the buzz. After a few weeks, The Cartoon Network revealed characters on each ad (bottom right panel). Pictures via Andy little, here, here, and here

And finally, here’s one that was just taken today … it didn’t quite make my top ten, but I thought it was pretty funny:

via

If you’ve seen others that you think should be included, let me know and I’ll post them here.

At least they’re truthful:

They sure do … although I would have said “like bunnies”

To make sure someone takes a picture of your graffiti, do this:

The yin and yang of the graffiti world:

Nerd graffiti (from Tucows):

Just a cool graffiti illusion:

via

In the first illusion, the “baby genius” turns into a young Einstein when you stand far enough from the computer:

A few people who saw the first one so far said “yeah, but I knew what I was looking for, which is why I could tell it was Einstein”. Good point, so we created this second image using the same baby … what does it look like to you from far away?

If you like these, let us know and we can post a couple other hybrid image illusions and also give you instructions on how you can make your own. This is particularly fun to do using your own children, for example … you can make one child turn into his or her sibling.