OPTICAL ILLUSIONS AND BRAIN - TWISTING TOYS
Believe it or not, all these lines are perfectly straight; go ahead, place a piece of paper along them… The smaller the squares become, the more confused your perception grows.
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What: This illusion will likely strike you immediately, but if not, the key point is that all lines here are perfectly horizontal, yet your brain perceives them as angled. This phenomenon goes by several names - it was first identified as the Kindergarten pattern in 1898, named after a weaving design, and later revived as the Café Wall Illusion by Richard Gregory, which has become its most common designation today.
How To: You have extensive customization options here with the adjustment tools. Some important observations: if you lower the contrast between the two colors, the illusion will virtually vanish before your eyes. You can also modify the dimensions of the squares to discover where the illusion appears most powerful. Personally, I find it strongest when the squares are relatively small and slightly elongated. Additionally, removing the line color entirely will again cause the illusion to disappear.
Explain It: Overall, this phenomenon remains poorly understood, and based on my research, there's no straightforward explanation that doesn't completely overwhelm my simple understanding. The illusion appears to exist in the intersection between how your eyes process shapes and lines, and how your brain interprets and assembles the same visual information.