BBC News Report
"The" Dress
Walking into the French block in
the morning, a raging debate can be heard, with shouts of "It's white and
gold, clearly!" and "Are you blind? It's blue!" The subject, of
course, can only be "The Dress", as it has been named. An overnight
internet sensation, causing many social networking arguments and much
confusion, is the dress worn to a wedding recently, which, due to a certain
photo, appears to some as gold and white, and to others as blue and black.
Above: The dress as can be seen
on online stores.
The dress, as can be found on
online stores, is a dark blue, with a black fringe. About this there is no
debate. What has caused a stir, however, is the photo, posted online, which is
taken at a different angle. All started when two friends disagreed about the
colour of the dress and soon, a few hours later, the situation had erupted all
over the internet, with people unable to believe their own eyes, even after
seeing the original dress picture. Even celebrities joined the fight, as
husband-to-be at the wedding posted on Facebook: "You know it's gonna be a
strange day when you wake up and after 30 seconds of interneting can turn to
Grace Johnston and say 'So Kim sees white and gold, but Kanye sees blue and
black'..."
The main thing bugging people has
been why some see white and gold while others see blue and black. Essentially,
to put simply the theory that Jay Neitz, neuroscientist at Washington
University, has, different people process what they are seeing differently. To
see what colour something is, the brain automatically takes away the light
illuminating a surface from the what the surface is reflecting. This however,
in rare circumstances such as this can be processed in a variety of ways by
individuals and so the brain thinks it is seeing a certain colour due to
shadows and light tricking it. There is also the possibility of coloured light
hitting the dress, which the human mind believes in, as some people
"attribute the blue light to the illuminant" while others
"attribute it to the dress" according to Neitz.
How do you see the dress? It's
gold and white... Trust me...