There is one thing in the world unique dress, the color of which has become the subject of great controversy in the English-speaking segment of the Internet. As often happens when controversial situations arise, users are divided into two camps: the first are firmly convinced that the color of the dress is blue-black, while others see a combination of white and gold.

It all started with the fact that on February 25, a Tumblr user under the pseudonym Swiked published on her blog a photo of a dress with a seemingly simple question, what color it was: white and gold or blue and black. The girl claimed that the color of the dress became the subject of a dispute between her and her friends, which resulted in a quarrel.

The photo quickly spread across the Internet and gained immense popularity. Within hours, the photo sparked widespread debate. She had her own hashtag #TheDress, which quickly topped the trends in the American segment of Twitter. Almost immediately after the start of the discussion, quite witty photographs and jokes on this topic began to pour in.

Not only ordinary users, but also celebrities took part in the discussions. Thus, the American television star and fashion model, Kim Kardashian, told her Twitter followers that she argued with her husband, the famous American rapper and producer Kanye West, about the color of her dress. American singer Taylor Swift said that she doesn’t understand what all the fuss is about, since “it’s obvious that the dress is blue and black.” At the same time, one of the main characters of The X-Files, David Duchovny, saw green and blue colors. BuzzFeed editor-in-chief Ben Smith noted that his daughter thinks the color of the dress is greenish-blue, and they are already heading to the nearest department of the city hospital [this is, of course, a joke].

What color is that dress? I see white & gold. Kanye sees black & blue, who is color blind?

Even tech brands tried to benefit from the debate over dress color:

Of course, in the lively discussion around the mysterious dress, they did not forget to mention the Illuminati.

However, there is a logical explanation for all this madness that this dress has created.

A person’s color perception depends on the individual characteristics of his vision. The retina, the structure of which is extremely complex, is responsible for the interpretation of colors in the organ of the visual system. The outermost layer is light-(color-)perceiving and consists of neuroepithelial cells - rods and cones, which perceive light and colors. Cones are responsible for the perception of colors, and rods are responsible for the perception of shades such as gray, black and white. Cones “work” only when the required amount of light hits the object. Thus, some may see the fabric as white, while others may see the color of the same fabric as blue due to insufficient light.

The retina of the human eye contains three types of cones that perceive light in the violet-blue, green-yellow and yellow-red parts of the spectrum. As for the color black, which many perceive as gold, there is such a thing as additive color mixing. By mixing the three primary colors (red, green and blue) in a certain ratio, most colors perceived by humans can be reproduced. In contrast to additive color mixing, there are subtractive synthesis schemes. In contrast to additive color mixing, there are subtractive synthesis schemes. As more and more colors are added, the final color will become darker until it is completely black.

Users who believe the dress color is blue-black have more efficiently functioning cones, which ultimately leads to subtractive mixing. Representatives of the second camp, who consider the dress to be white and gold, received less sensitive cones to light, which causes additive mixing. If you increase the brightness of your smartphone or monitor screen, you can see how the dress changes color from white-gold to blue-black.

A photo of a dress that a girl from Scotland posted on the Internet has divided the whole world into two camps - some see it blue and black dress, other - in white and gold. Who is right and who is deceived by his vision?

The dispute about the color of the dress flared up after a resident of Scotland, Caitlin McNeil, posted a photo of the dress on her blog and asked Internet users: “Help me, is this dress white and gold or blue and black? Me and my friends can't agree and we're going crazy." Within a couple of hours, a photo of the dress spread all over the Internet, and the world was divided into two camps: some began to claim that the dress was blue and black, others were sure that it was white and gold.

What color do you think this dress is in the photo?

It should be noted that there are much more people who see white-gold colors (according to numerous polls on the Internet). In fact, the dress is blue-black, as confirmed by its owner Caitlin. However, this fact did not close the controversy over color.

Why do some people see the dress as blue and others as white?

Scientists tried to answer the question why some people see blue-black and others white-golden colors in the photo of the dress. The human retina consists of two types of photoreceptors - cones and rods. Rods are more sensitive to light and are responsible for perceiving the shape, not the color, of objects. Cones, on the contrary, are responsible for the perception of color, and not for the degree of illumination of an object. In other words, in the dark we perceive the world through rods rather than cones.

Thus, the sensitivity of the color gamut depends on whether there are more cones or rods in the human retina, as well as on how the object is illuminated. “Our visual system is accustomed to discarding information about the light source and drawing information from the actual reflected light. I'm studying individual characteristics I've been doing color vision for 30 years and this is the biggest difference I've ever seen in individual perceptions,” says Jay Neitz, a neuroscientist in Washington, DC.

What color do you see the dress in - black and blue or white and gold? We are waiting for your comments and do not forget to click on the buttons and

The dress, a photograph of which was posted on the Internet, divided the planet into two irreconcilable camps.

A photo of a strange dress (in the middle of the picture), posted the day before by the BuzzFeed portal, literally blew up the Internet. “Guys, help me, is this dress white and gold or blue and black? Me and my friends can’t agree and we’re going crazy,” one girl wrote, after which millions of users around the world went crazy.

Look at the image and decide: is the dress in the middle white and gold or blue and black?

Few could imagine that a simple picture could divide Internet users into two irreconcilable camps. Some vehemently claim that they clearly see a dark blue dress with black lace stripes, others - white dress with gold lace.

It's really all about biology. The difference in perception is explained by the way the human eye and brain have evolved to perceive the world illuminated by light. Light entering the human eye hits the retina, which consists of two types of photoreceptors - cones and rods, which are taught about in school. Rods are more sensitive to light and are more responsible for perceiving the shape rather than the color of objects. Cones, on the contrary, are more responsible for the perception of color, rather than the degree of illumination of an object. In other words, at dusk we perceive the world through rods rather than cones.

What color scheme different objects are perceived depends on what is in the retina specific person more rods or cones, and depending on the light with which the object is illuminated.

The rods perceive light intensity thanks to the visual pigment rhodopsin, which is very sensitive to low-intensity light and is destroyed when exposed to bright light. At the same time, it takes about 45 minutes to restore it - which is why a person needs time to get used to twilight lighting normally.

For the same reason, if a person looks at a dress in bright light, then goes into a dark room for half an hour and returns, then most likely the color of the dress will change for him.

“Our visual system is accustomed to discarding information about the light source and drawing information from the actual reflected light. I've been studying individual color vision for 30 years, and this is one of the largest differences in individual perception I've ever seen,” says Jay Neitz, a neuroscientist at the University of Washington.

Moreover, color perception is influenced by how our brain tries to adjust colors and lighting to figure out what color an object actually has. Just as modern cameras adjust the light balance, the human brain does this automatically.

But at the same time, different people either ignore the blue shades, perceiving the image as white and gold, or ignore the yellow shades, seeing a blue and black dress.

Many other optical illusions are of a similar nature, including the famous example of black and white squares on a chessboard.

Real dress colors

This is what this dress actually looks like

The actual color of the dress coincides with the opinion of the minority - the posted photo shows that it is in fact blue-black.

What dress did you see?

Explanation

How white-golden people see

Looking at the photo, people who thought the dress was white and gold most likely paid attention to the background. Mistaking the bright backlight for sunlight, they decided that the dress was in the shadow, and, therefore, its light areas should change tone towards a bluish tint (for example, thanks to the same sky).

This is roughly how most people will see a white dress in this picture, although this is not the case

How do the “blue-blacks” see?

“Blue-blacks,” on the contrary, look at the light areas of the dress out of context and clearly state that they are bluish or blue, while instead of “golden” fragments in the photo they see black ones, keeping in mind the effect when, due to the bright light under At certain angles, black becomes rusty brown or even golden.

Thousands of people around the world are arguing about the color of a dress posted by a user on the social network Tumblr. His photo was posted a day ago by Scottish singer Kathleen McNeil.

“Two of my close friends are getting married. And the bride's mother sent her a photo of this dress. When the bride showed the dress to the groom, they argued about its color,” McNeil explained the reason for the appearance of the dress on her account. And I asked users for advice to figure it out.

And thereby “broke” the Internet, writes the website www.kp.by. Some say the dress is black and blue, others see white and gold. Even show business stars got involved in this strange game.

“I don’t understand why this strange dress gets so much attention, and I feel like there’s some kind of trick here. I'm scared and confused. P.S. It’s blue and black,” writes singer and actress Taylor Swift.

“How do you see blue and black???” - asks actress and model Kim Kardashian.

Lady Gaga also did not stand aside: “The dress is white and sand.”

“Guys, what’s wrong with you! It’s white and blue,” says Oscar winner Julianne Moore.

People were divided into teams with the hashtags “white and gold” and “blue and black.” The hashtag #thedress topped the top trends in the States. And everyone gets scared. Voting began on various sites. For example, on buzzfeed.com, which first wrote about this story, 72% voted for white and gold. 28% - for the second option. On telegraph.co.uk, 42% of voters see the blue-black color scheme.

It has already become clear that the original dress is really blue and black. But why do some users see it as white and gold?

Ophthalmologists tried to explain why people see the dress differently

Your retina is made up of rods and cones, which convert light stimuli into nerve stimulation. They transform the signal differently. Rods are more sensitive to light, see shadows and work more efficiently in the dark. Cones are sensitive to color, but less sensitive to light. That is, in low light conditions you see more with rods than with cones.

The dress appears blue-black or white-gold depending on whether your eye has more rods or cones and the lighting conditions in the room. U different people different ratio of rods and cones.

It should take about 45 minutes for your vision to adjust (just as your eyes will need time to adjust to the dark). If you look at a dress in bright light and see one color, it will probably change if you go into a dark room for half an hour and then come back.

Also, different dress colors for different people are associated with individual differences in color perception. If you've ever tried to work with photography, you've probably encountered white balance: the camera tries to balance it in inappropriate lighting conditions. Your brain does its own white balance, which means you either ignore the blue tint and see a white-gold image, or ignore the yellow tint and see a blue-black photo.

Ophthalmologists say that different perceptions of the color of a dress do not mean that you have vision or mental problems. Each person has individual vision characteristics. The brain processes light waves that hit the retina in a unique way, which is why some people see certain colors and others see different colors.

There is another explanation for why people see different colors in the same picture. This optical illusion. Objects reflect light at different wavelengths or colors, and the human brain determines color from the reflected light. Objects around you can also reflect color and influence your perception. In this photo there are many colors around and they are mixed - the brain cannot immediately determine the color of the dress. People who see dark ambient light see white instead of blue. Washington University professor Jay Neitz says he has been studying color differences for 30 years and this case is one of the most striking. By the way, the dress seemed white to him.

A new explanation of American scientists who conducted research on this phenomenon is possible.

What colors do you see?

Opinions from page readers

Another glitch that our brain can throw out was revealed by a photograph of a dress that a girl posted on the Internet. She and her friends got into an argument, and opinions were equally divided: half claimed that the dress was white and gold, the other half that it was black and blue.

Illusion of the day!

Thousands of users were also confused. Even Kim Kardashian tweeted that she thought the dress was white, while her husband Kanye West clearly replied that it was blue and black.

I also agreed with Kim on the first point. After all, if you lighten the photo in Photoshop, the answer seems obvious.

But another answer seems obvious if the photo is slightly darkened.

So whose side is the truth on?

So, don’t believe your eyes if you think the dress is white and gold:

Moreover, on the official website there is no white color.

Why is this happening? Our visual system, as a result of evolution, has learned to filter out the shade of incident light in order to see natural color subject. But for some people, the brain rejects blue shades, and for others - yellow, which leads to a difference in perception.

In addition, if you immediately saw the dress as white and gold, and now you really distinguish between blue and black, then science has an answer to this - we are still not machines, and consciousness can change the feeling of the picture seen in accordance with the context.