Chromatic Adaptation

Have you ever entered a movie theater on a sunny afternoon? The room probably appeared completely dark but as your visual system adjusted to the reduced level of light you were able to see better after a few moments. 

This "adaptation mechanism" allows our eyes to recover from an oversensitivity to a particular stimuli. "Chromatic adaptation" occurs when our eyes adjust to certain color stimuli. Follow the instructions below and see how the visual system responds to a color overload. 

Instructions: Fixate upon the black spot in between the uniform cyan and yellow areas for about 30 seconds. Then scroll down and shift your gaze to the black spot in the 2nd image. Note that the image of the seaplane appears approximately uniform after this adaptation.

Other Illusions:
Blind Spots
Blink Effect
Bordering
Chromatic Adaptation
Chromatic Adaptation
Color Blindness
Crispening
Dither Dots
Dithering
Fill Patterns
Opponent After-images
Optical Art
Shape Contrast
Simultaneous Contrast
Simultaneous Contrast
Value Contrast

Other fun stuff:
Free 3D Screensavers
Color Playground
Dimensions of Color
3D Color Puzzle