Blurred vision biography of albert einstein

written by Xander DuMoulin, Justyn Hermel, Claudia Lampi, and Tate Littlefield

The Albert Einstein and Marilyn Monroe illusion is an image that tricks your brain into seeing two different faces when looking at the picture from different distances.

When this image is further away from your face you will see Marilyn Monroe, but as the image gets closer you will see the face of Albert Einstein. This illusion is considered a hybrid image, as it is perceived differently based on the distance it is viewed at.

But how is this possible? The illusion heavily relies upon two factors that contribute to our perception of visual information: spatial frequency and contrast sensitivity.

Spatial frequency is defined as “the number of times a pattern repeats in a given unit of space (degree of visual angle)” (Wolf et al., ).

Manipulating spatial frequencies allows for the creation of hybrid images such that the viewer’s perception is