Leaning tower illusion
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The Leaning Tower Illusion is a visual illusion (sometimes referred to incorrectly as an optical illusion) that presents two identical images of the Leaning Tower of Pisa side by side, yet viewers have the impression that the tower on the right leans more, as if photographed from a different angle.[1][2] The illusion was discovered by Frederick Kingdom, Ali Yoonessi and Elena Gheorghiu in McGill University, and won the first prize in the Best Visual Illusion of the Year Contest 2007.[1]
In the paper the authors suggest that the illusion happens because if two identical towers rise in parallel the eyes expect perspective convergence of corresponding lines. Since the lines do not converge as expected, they are assumed to be non-parallel, and actually diverging.
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