The Honeycomb illusion: Uniform textures not perceived as such

Abstract

We present a series of patterns, in which texture is perceived differently at fixation in comparison to the periphery, such that a physically uniform stimulus yields a nonuniform percept. We call this the Honeycomb illusion, and we discuss it in relation to the similar Extinction illusion ( Ninio & Stevens, 2000 ). The effect remains strong despite multiple fixations, dynamic changes, and manipulations of the size of texture elements. We discuss the phenomenon in relation to how vision achieves a detailed and stable representation of the environment despite changes in retinal spatial resolution and dramatic changes across saccades. The Honeycomb illusion complements previous related observations in suggesting that this representation is not necessarily based on multiple fixations (i.e., memory) or on extrapolation from information available to central vision.