Oct. 08, 2019
Kokichi Sugihara, a distinguished professor emeritus in the Organization for the Strategic Coordination of Research and Intellectual Properties at the Meiji Institute for the Advanced Study of Mathematical Sciences (MIMS) at Meiji University, was invited to give two lectures and an exhibition of three-dimensional optical illusions in the USA in August. The following is his report.
I then went to New York to give a lecture at the National Museum of Mathematics (MoMath) in Madison Square as part of the monthly series of lectures called Math Encounters. The 170-seat venue for the lecture, advertised as The Amazing Work of Kokichi Sugihara, was full and I introduced impossible three-dimensional objects and explained the background mathematical structure. I also exhibited five ambiguous objects at the venue before and after the lecture. Even though there was a Q&A session at the end of the 90-minute lecture, people were still asking many questions even after the lecture finished.
I had the opportunity to exhibit the actual objects of impossible three-dimensional objects at both lectures. When objects that were shot with a video camera or the like were projected onto a screen, the optical illusions were dramatic. This is because there is only one camera lens center, so it is like looking at an object with only one eye and binocular stereopsis is ineffective. While some of my impossible objects produce optical illusions even when looked at directly with both eyes, the strength of this illusion can only be experienced by looking at the actual object. By having the opportunity to give a lecture that includes exhibitions of the actual objects I was able to surprise even people who have seen my work through YouTube or the like.
MAGIC Live! / Kari Hendler
I then went to New York to give a lecture at the National Museum of Mathematics (MoMath) in Madison Square as part of the monthly series of lectures called Math Encounters. The 170-seat venue for the lecture, advertised as The Amazing Work of Kokichi Sugihara, was full and I introduced impossible three-dimensional objects and explained the background mathematical structure. I also exhibited five ambiguous objects at the venue before and after the lecture. Even though there was a Q&A session at the end of the 90-minute lecture, people were still asking many questions even after the lecture finished.
I had the opportunity to exhibit the actual objects of impossible three-dimensional objects at both lectures. When objects that were shot with a video camera or the like were projected onto a screen, the optical illusions were dramatic. This is because there is only one camera lens center, so it is like looking at an object with only one eye and binocular stereopsis is ineffective. While some of my impossible objects produce optical illusions even when looked at directly with both eyes, the strength of this illusion can only be experienced by looking at the actual object. By having the opportunity to give a lecture that includes exhibitions of the actual objects I was able to surprise even people who have seen my work through YouTube or the like.