Why do I feel like this optical illusion is gaslighting me?

While the internet loves an optical illusion, trying to understand them can be a brain-melting experience. The latest puzzling illusion making the rounds is this deceptively simple take on a classic colour optical illusion, which breaks down the process step by step.

You'd be forgiven for thinking this makes the optical illusion easier to understand, but if anything, it makes it all the more confusing. Appearing to shift before our eyes, this perplexing optical trick proves how easily our eyes can be deceived.

Same colored spheres from r/opticalillusions

The illusion features two spheres of the same colour. When placed with different coloured backgrounds and dotted overlays, they appear to completely shift in shade. An evolution of the Munker-White illusion, the Confetti illusion created by computer and information science engineer David Novick has been perplexing viewers for decades.

It demonstrates how our brains' perception of colour is heavily influenced by its surroundings, thanks to an effect known as colour assimilation or colour mixing. For a similar brain-boggling illusion, check out this perplexing colour illusion or take a look at this viral elephant optical illusion.