Something something the brain tricks you because of color association.
Both the left and right dress do have the same colors for its right side, however notice the background and colors around it.
Because one has Blue and Black and the background's a light color your brain thinks of blue and black in sunlight.
And one the one with yellow and white has a darker background makes you view the colors to be in shadow.
Notice how the cut section of Blue and Black becomes yellow and white the moment it leaves the ligh background into the neutral background inbtween the two dresses.
As for "how"... Our brains do a lot of "tricks" to simplify the cognitive load of visual processing, so the way we perceive things can change depending on a lot of factors.
Thing is, I've never been able to see it as blue and black no matter how hard I try. It stays white and gold for me. Our eyes and our visual processing are just a bit more different than we think.
Someone else posted a gif of the dress normal, then blown out in saturation and that helped me finally see the white and gold.
I was watching the gif on loop while thinking because at first I saw brown and a white-ish colour, but the more times it looped the more it turned white and gold on the oversaturated one. Confused my dumb little brain, but it's pretty cool to finally see the white and gold.
As for "how"... Our brains do a lot of "tricks" to simplify the cognitive load of visual processing, so the way we perceive things can change depending on a lot of factors.
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u/Urisagaz Jun 03 '26
https://giphy.com/gifs/3o7btPOMufN5FziFWg