Are the lines in this optical illusion wavy or straight? Brick wall illusion trick fools the eyes of viewers

This optical illusion has been baffling everyone who sees it for at least 40 years, if not longer.

It sounds simple; say what you see and that’s it - but of course there’s something about it that has been designed to trick your eyes.

So, what are you likely to think this optical illusion shows, and what does it actually show? Plus, where has it come from?

Here’s what you need to know.

What does the image show?

The image shows a classic brickwork wall, but the question is are the lines between the lines of bricks moving or not.

The illusion, which is called the café wall illusion, takes its name from when British psychologist Richard Gregory noticed it as a pattern in the brickwork of a Bristol café in 1973.

He may not have been the first person to discover it, however, as similar chess-like illusions were studied as early as the late 1800s.

Where has the image come from?

This new version of the café wall illusion has been created and shared by Selco Builders Warehouse, which is the UK’s fastest growing builders merchant.

Do the lines in the image move, and how does it work?

The brickwork in this wall appears to be wobbly, but actually it’s perfectly straight.  In fact, the horizontal lines dividing the bricks are straight, but the human eye somehow sees them as wonky. It is thought that almost 100% of people see the lines wobbling.

It might be one of the oldest optical illusions around, but the cause of the illusion is still not well understood. According to some theories, it may involve interactions between the neuron and the visual cortex of the brain, which receives and processes images from the eye, that cause us to focus on some aspects rather than others, but the link is still unclear.

How can I see more optical illusions?

Check out our dedicated optical illusions page for more mind-bending images. Find out if you think with your head or your heart by simply seeing which animal you can see first in this image.

If you were a fan of the Magic Eye illusions, see if you can spot the giraffe in this image, which has been inspired by those iconic illusions. Test your eyesight even further with this artist’s drawing illusion, which will also reveal something about your personality.

If you’d like to find out which your biggest strengths and weaknesses are, then this optical illusion will tell you.

If you’re interested to know more about romance, then the first thing you see in this optical illusion also reveals what you want in a relationship. Or, if you want to see a super cute pet then see if you can spot the puppy hiding in plain sight in this TikTok video.

For all the best optical illusions, bookmark our optical illusions page and keep looking at it regularly as we update our illusion content on a daily basis.