This viral TikTok optical illusion is scarily addictive

We've seen more than a few optical illusions on TikTok in recent years, from rotating horses to hidden images. But still once and a while we come across one that's a little different and stands out from the others. And beauty of this one is that it's interactive.

This TikTok optical illusion shows a strip of moving black and white lines passing along the top of the screen at fairly fast pace. But its creator claims that we can control the speed of the lines by touching them. And incredibly, it works. This might even make it into our list of the top must-see optical illusions of all time.

@enriquethemagician
♬ Cornfield Chase - Dorian Marko

Enrique the Magician has shared this simple but huge effective optical illusion on TikTok. I can make you control these lines only with the power of your mind," he says, referring to the black and white stripes moving across the top of the screen. Henry tells us to place a finger over the lines to slowly move them back and forth, not only slowing down their movement but also making it appear that the lines are moving in whichever direction we move our finger.

It's a lot of fun, and we could spend more time than we should playing with the illusion – "why am I having fun with moving lines?" one person has commented on the video, and we hear them. Someone's even asking Henry to post an hour long version of the video on YouTube. You should find that you don't actually need to use your finger to make the illusion work if you focus and slowly follow the lines from one side of the screen as they change from black to white, but using a finger serves as a good tool to aid focus.

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Joe is a regular freelance journalist and editor at Creative Bloq. He writes news, features and buying guides and keeps track of the best equipment and software for creatives, from video editing programs to monitors and accessories. A veteran news writer and photographer, he now works as a project manager at the London and Buenos Aires-based design, production and branding agency Hermana Creatives. There he manages a team of designers, photographers and video editors who specialise in producing visual content and design assets for the hospitality sector. He also dances Argentine tango.

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