Deviate: The Science of Seeing Differently

by Beau Lotto

In May 2015, for example, Current Biology simultaneously published three studies of The Dress. One found that the distribution of colors of the dress corresponded to “natural daylights,” which makes it harder for your brain to differentiate sources of light from surfaces that reflect light (more on this in the next chapter). Another study made a discovery about how the brain processes the color blue, revealing that things have a greater probability of appearing white or gray to the human eye when “varied along bluish directions.” The last study, which surveyed 1,401 participants, found that 57 percent see the dress as blue/black, while the white/gold perception of the dress was more common in older people and women. Additionally, on a second viewing, participants’ perception sometimes switched white/gold to blue/back, or vice versa.