Eli5 How do hidden object optical illusion pictures work?

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My mom has a picture in her room with a crazy optical illusion design. Everybody says they see a picture of Jesus on the cross but I’ve never seen it in 25 years. I’ve never been able to see any objects in those hidden object pictures. I think everyone who says they can see those are full of it.

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1 2 3 4 5
A x x x x x
B x x x x x

Best do this with computer screen (hopefully works on mobile too, but better hold it horizontally?)

* Wink to close your RIGHT eye.
* Point with the tip of your finger (or pen, whatever) to the x in position A4. Don’t obscure it. Point from below.
* Imagine a line going from your LEFT eye to the finger.
* Move the finger away from the screen (closer to your eye) along this line. Just a bit. Your LEFT eye should still see it as pointing to the same x.
* Switch eyes (open RIGHT, close LEFT). Adjust the position of the finger (only along the line!) so that your RIGHT eye sees the finger as pointing to the x in position A3.

In other words, there’re 2 imaginary lines: left eye to A4, right eye to A3, and your finger is suspended in midair at the intersection. Now comes the relatively hard part:

* Open both eyes. Focus on the finger. NOT the screen. Think of the screen as just a background for your lovely fingernail (or fingerprint, depending how you’re holding it 👆/☝️)
* If your finger is EXACTLY at the intersection, then just above it, the two x’s (the one at A3 and the one at A4) should appear as a single x.
* If it doesn’t, take a break for a few seconds and restart. No rush. This is like learning how to ride a bicycle 🙂
* To check that you’re on track: above the x you should see a weird overlap of the 3 & 4 numerals.
* Slowly lower your finger away. It’s tempting to focus back on the screen, but keep focusing on the same distance (depth) where the finger was. At this point you should be slightly crossed eyed.
* If all went well, you should not only see a row of x’s (mainly the 3 in the middle, which BOTH your eyes see. Each of the leftmost/rightmost x’s is visible to only one of your eyes. That’s okay!) BUT row B below should have x’s that appear to FLOAT CLOSER to you. That’s the “magic” part!

This is the raw technique. Instead of my repeating x’s, OP mom’s picture has some other repeating pattern, just need to find it and use that instead.

Notes:

1. your finger is like training wheels here, once you learn how to focus on midair, instead of focusing on the picture, you’ll no longer need it.
2. you may “overdo” it, i.e. find the intersection of A4 & A2. With my crude x’s it doesn’t matter too much. With an actual picture, it might distort the hidden shape. Which reminds me: in case other comments didn’t mention it – all you’ll ever see in these pictures are silhouettes. Not much details, basically outlines.

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