The Frame Effect


Probes flashed within a moving frame are dramatically displaced. The effect is much larger than that seen on static or moving probes. These flashed probes are often perceived with the separation they have in frame coordinates—a 100% effect (Özkan et al., 2021, PDF). Cavanagh art al. (2022, PDF) followed up with several variations of the Frame Effect. Here in the first video is the basic frame effect with an outline square moving left and right and a probe flashing at each reversal. The red and blue discs are always vertically aligned—notice the green line—but when the line disappears, a large offset may appear with red to the right of the blue. Please avoid fixating on the flashes because, for some, this may reduce or eliminate the effects.


The second video shows that the "frame" can distort and rotate while still preserving the frame effect. It appears sufficient that some “thing” has displaced. It may change as it displaces. This may be related to the tolerance of apparent motion to shape and feature changes between the first and second position. In this case, the shape is changing during the motion but once the green line fades, the red disc appears to the right of the blue, even though they are vertically aligned.