It's a vision thing

[andrewducker]

(If you can't see an image there then see this.)

[Poll #1787753]

Comments

[gonzo21.livejournal.com]

I see it equally as both, it sort of oscillates as it vibrates back and forth between duck and rabbit.

[steer.livejournal.com]

Yes... it's a ruck or a dabbit at best.

[andrewducker]

Personally, I latch onto the eye first, and then look rightward to see the rabbit's face. Seeing the duck requires a little effort (but not much).

[kerrypolka.livejournal.com]

I see the "bill" first, then move over to (what has now in my brain been established as) the duck's head.

[ninebelow.livejournal.com]

I see the "bill" first but it is wrong so my brain realises it is a rabbit.

[momentsmusicaux.livejournal.com]

Same here.

[tysolna]

I wonder if it has to do with handedness? I know that to me, as a right-handed person, it is easier to draw a face looking left than looking right, but would this influence perception?

And where does DiCaprio fit into the equation? ;)

[andrewducker]

The two questions are entirely unrelated. The duck/rabbit question came up in an episode of Fringe, and the DiCaprio one was in discussion of his role as Alan Turing in an upcoming movie.

[tysolna]

Duck/rabbit: reminds me to finally catch up with two seasons of Fringe.

DiCaprio as Turing?!? Now I'm glad I clicked "no"!

[andrewducker]

More discussion (and link to article) here:
http://andrewducker.livejournal.com/2561520.html

[strawberryfrog.livejournal.com]

Leonardo Di Caprio is a good actor. No question - he has accomplished acts that other Hollywood actors have failed at. But he is also pretty, and so has been in films that vary - some are good, some bad and some indifferent.

I don't worry about Di Caprio as Turing. I worry about Hollywood doing Turing. Turing was, by some accounts, quite a camp nerd. A gay mathematician who had a high-pitched voice and probably Asbergers. I fear that they will gloss over that.

[tysolna]

You are right - I think my reaction was towards Hollywood more than towards DiCaprio. Hollywood is not exactly known for authenticity.

Now, the BBC doing Turing... I could think of a couple of rather good actors there, too.

[channelpenguin.livejournal.com]

both and both

[steer.livejournal.com]

I wonder if some Victorian taxidermist ever tried to make one of these.

[drjon.livejournal.com]

GET IN CAR! IS RUCCKET!!!

[spacelem.livejournal.com]

Since all ducks wear dog masks, and I don't see any dog masks in the picture, I am forced to assert that there is only a rabbit.

[bart-calendar.livejournal.com]

I can't see a rabbit no matter how hard I look at it.

[andrewducker]

Put you hands over the "beak" and see if that helps.

[randomchris.livejournal.com]

It looks more like a bird to me, but not like a duck, because the beak is completely wrong. And the ears aren't right for a rabbit either, if you look at them as ears. (Rabbit ears are kind of pointed ovals and duck bill halves are rounded triangles; these are basically rectangles with a triangle stuck on the end.)

The point about the dog mask is also good; ducks have a very clear black spot like a nostril on the upper part of the bill, this thing doesn't.

[alitheapipkin.livejournal.com]

I'm glad someone else made this comment - I was thinking it but thought I was just being a pedantic ecologist ;)

[woodpijn.livejournal.com]

I have to turn my head to the side to see it as a rabbit. It could be made more successfully ambiguous if the ears/bill were angled up a bit rather than horizontal.

[genre-savvy.livejournal.com]

Duck season! Rabbit season! Duck season! Rabbit season! *BLAM*

I'm sorry. Apparently, I'm twelve today. :-)

[nmg.livejournal.com]

(x) It's not a duck, it's an albatross (or some other kind of seabird).

Also, both ruck and dabbit.

[red-phil.livejournal.com]

Yup, much more of a gull type beak shape.

I see Gull first and Rabbit with effort.
I see Rabbit more and gull less if the picture is rotated 45 degrees.

[drdoug.livejournal.com]

I totally seeing both most of the time, but I'll pick duck if pressed.

I thought this was because the bill/ears came first and in a left-to-right reading context you read that as the most important bit. But then I checked and actually flipped the image horizontally, and it looks even more duck that way round.

I also tried rotations: With the bill/ears pointing down, it's definitely more duck. With the bill/ears pointing up, it's definitely more rabbit. (No effect of horizontal reflection here.)

Then for completeness I tried flipping the original image upside down, and contrasting bill/ears pointing left and right ... by which point my brain had failed and was going "More duck! No, more rabbit! No, more duck! Rabbit! Drabbit! Uck! Ack! Urk!"

[khbrown.livejournal.com]

I think the normal way of viewing it, at least in a western culture, would encourage seeing the rabbit first, then the duck. Would be interesting to see saccade patterns and if these vary across cultures.

[soon_lee]

Mostly duck because rabbit's head orientation is unexpected (I'd see the rabbit more readily if its ears were pointing up & the nose down).