By Kayla Perkins—The latest news going viral on the internet is The Dress. The Dress is special in that it is never the same color, and is always changing for those who look at it. The image became viral online with the debate over whether it was white and gold or blue and black. The debate has cause conflict throughout the internet realm, and everyone is wondering the same thing. What color do you see?
The Dress originated on Tumblr when user Caitlin McNeill, aka Swiked, posted the picture of the dress and asked, “Guys please help me – is this dress white and gold, or blue and black? Me and my friends can’t agree and we are freaking the f*ck out.”
This sparked the debate that people are still debating. Some saw a white dress with gold trim. Other saw a blue dress with black trim. Some saw both.
“I could see both colors. Personally, I think the whole thing is ridiculous,” said Ruthie Weinmann.
“I saw blue and black, my indifference towards the dress from the very beginning was astounding,” said Morningside Anime Division President Zach Torgerson.
The truth behind the dress? It is actually a periwinkle blue and copper gold color. Depending on the eyes of the viewer, the color varies on how well the viewer can see. Normally, a person’s brain is able to process different colors depending on where they are coming from. This image, however, throws off the brain’s processes so it chooses to side with either the blue color wavelengths, or the gold color wavelengths to determine how the person views the picture. A person with good vision would be able to see the original image.
“What’s happening here is your visual system is looking at this thing, and you’re trying to discount the chromatic bias of the daylight axis,” says neuroscientist Bevil Conway. “So people either discount the blue side, in which case they end up seeing white and gold, or discount the gold side, in which case they end up with blue and black.”
While this topic is likely to die out quickly, it is an interesting topic that has got people focusing on how the body works, and why.
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