Mixing Memory has alerted me to the fact that the winner of the Best Visual Illusion of the Year Contest has been announced, and what a fantastic illusion it is.

It’s an animated one, so you need to go to the page and stare at the dot in the centre for 20-30 seconds.

The creators of the winning illusion, psychologists Rob van Lier and Mark Vergeer, have put up a pdf with their explanation of the effect.

And if you’re still illusion hungry after that, you can check out the rest of the finalists that came in the top 10.

On a related note, Scientific American have recently released one of their ‘special editions’ that collects V.R Ramachandran and Diane Rogers Ramachandran’s monthly articles on illusions into one magazine. I got mine from a newsagent but you can also purchase it as a DRM-free pdf online for $4.95.

Link to Top 10 2008 contest winners.

Link to Mixing Memory’s take on the winner.