Okay, I'm probably going to get marked down for this, but... with that whole "the dress" thing, am I wrong to think it's not just Photoshop and/or the dress coming out different colours in the image depending on the light?
Now does everyone seeing that see bronze and light blue on the left, and dark blue and black on the right?
Supposedly these are images of the same dress. If anyone suggests they're seeing the colours differently on this example, I'll be genuinely surprised, but at the moment I find that unlikely.
EDIT: ...and the downvotes have started. How predictable.
In the "classic illusions" everyone (or at least the vast majority) of people will describe what they are seeing in a similar manner (an "illusion").
Then, when given an "aid" (such as hiding part of the background) they will "flip" and describe what they are seeing in a different manner ("reality").
There is no such "aid" for the dress (or at least I haven't seen such).
It is thus not an "illusion". It is a segmented perception of reality, where reality is this one specific image discussed.
It demonstrates that given a specific set of colors on which there is no argument (see wired RGB image), a composition of those same colors can still be perceived differently, but consistently, by segments of the population. They see a different "truth".
BTW my 10 people sample had 5 blue eyed people in the black/blue camp and 5 green eyed people in the white/gold camp.
The bronze and lighter blue you are seeing are a result of the incredibly washed out image - there's a ton of light. Almost any black object will appear gray or bronze or colored under a lot of light, even if it looks like true black in darker environments.
The original image can't be changed to match the original just by adjusting the white balance because it has an extra red hue added to the black regions. That could be due to the fabric not reflecting colors evenly, which is not exactly unheard of, but I've been been wondering if that's an artifact from the way the camera processes the raw sensor data to determine color. It's easy to imagine a horribly lit and exposed scene like this one hitting a pathological failure in some sort of adaptive color processing algorithm.
The issue isn't what color the dress is, but what color people when they see the photo. Some see white and for and some see blue and black, from the same photo. Yes, it is a horribly lit photo. Bit the issue is different people perceive the color differently. Never mind that the rgb colors in the photo tend towards white and gold. The fact remains people perceive the same photo differently. What amazes me is some people actually see different colors after reading about the dress, or seeing a better photo of the dress.
On another note, I'm wondering if people did comparisons on whether the size at which you viewed the robe had any effect on people's choice. Personally I can't see it as white because there are enough cues in the background that indicate that there isn't a strong blue light lighting the dress from the front. On the other hand if I shrink the image and squint, I can imagine it being a sort of backlit photo where the blue tint would just be a result of outdoor atmospheric diffusion and the contrast with yellow sunlight.
Take this example... http://assets-s3.usmagazine.com/uploads/assets/articles/8371...
Now does everyone seeing that see bronze and light blue on the left, and dark blue and black on the right?
Supposedly these are images of the same dress. If anyone suggests they're seeing the colours differently on this example, I'll be genuinely surprised, but at the moment I find that unlikely.
EDIT: ...and the downvotes have started. How predictable.