How My Optical Illusion Became Viral

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Why do some images become viral? When I created “Mask of Love”, I hadn’t expected anything. I didn’t have a grand master plan for creating a viral content. I just created something that I found really intriguing and that I thought others would enjoy it, too. Maybe the secret is all here… Or maybe because people like to be amazed and puzzled?

So, have a look at my optical illusion I created years ago that still keeps people puzzled all around the world. As you can see, the picture represents a Venetian mask but it actually holds an interesting secret… Please, don’t read further, before you notice something special in it!

You may find in the article below hints of why I called it “Mask of Love”, and explanations of how I made it.

How surprising number of people miss noticing that the main feature of the mask is actually composed of two distinct faces – a man and a woman kissing one another. But if you cannot see the two kissing faces, no problem, below is the original image I used to create the illusion.

This kind of illusion, where the viewer experiences two equally possible interchangeable stable states in perception, is called bistable illusion. The video below will help you understand the concept better.

In 2011, “Mask of Love” was nominated top ten best optical illusion of the year by Neural Correlate Society, an association that promotes research and education in the field of visual perception. Since then, my optical illusion was mentioned and featured in several science or art magazines: Newscientist, Origo, Guokr.com, Ciencia Hoje, Forskning & Framsteg.

“Mask of Love” had and still has a lot of success in Asia and Japan. July 8th, 2011, “Mask of Love” was featured on the Japanese TV show ‘Fukashigi’ (不可思議探偵団).

My optical illusion was also presented and extensively discussed on 'Masahiro Nakai’s Useful Library' show, a widely followed Japanese TV program (June, 2015).