To solve this illusion would be a cubic “feat.”

Puzzle lovers are frazzling their noodles over this physics-defying optical illusion, in which stationery cubes appear to be spinning. The trick first went viral on Twitter in 2020 — whereupon it notably caught the eye of Tesla boss Elon Musk — the square-o-dynamic image is currently gaining traction amid the internet’s current optical illusion craze.

[Warning: Spoilers Below]

The visual jigsaw shows two cubes sitting in place; however, when the viewer clicks on the shapes, the screen flashes black and they appear to rotate like disco cubes. But here’s the catch: the boxes were actually static the whole time.


  The square-o-dynamic image is currently gaining traction amid the current optical illusion craze. @jagarikin The square-o-dynamic image is currently gaining traction amid the current optical illusion craze. @jagarikin

  The illusion is reportedly caused by perception principle called the “phi phenomenon.” @jagarikin The illusion is reportedly caused by perception principle called the “phi phenomenon.” @jagarikin

The illusion is reportedly caused by a perception principle called the phi phenomenon, an “illusion of movement” created when a pair of stationary objects are placed side by side and illuminated rapidly, per the Encyclopedia Britannica.

Tap the right side of the screen below to watch this web story:

Can you solve this brain-busting optical illusion?

Unfortunately, the exact mechanism behind this optical parlor trick is yet unclear, writes the New World Encyclopedia. But most scientists believe it’s a physiological phenomenon rooted in the ways the brain and optic nerves communicate.

Nevertheless, the illusion has caused a stir on social media — and not just among the hoi polloi: Even SpaceX’s Elon Musk was impressed with the corneal confuser, notably replying “Wow” to a tweet detailing the illusion in 2020.

There have also been numerous variations on the moving cube trick, including one posted in May by a Japanese illusion aficionado who goes by Jagarikin on social media. In it, the illusion of movement is created by the fact that they’re situated on a pinwheeling black-and-white circle.

In the realm of illusory motion, few images compare to this purple-and-yellow pattern shared last month, which looks as though it’s both three-dimensional and moving, but is, in fact, stationary and flat.

Not content with merely feeling like you have the spins? Take a gander at this trippy image, which reportedly fools the viewer into thinking that they have gone colorblind.

Comments
anonymous profile image
Powered by RoundtableBuilt on infrastructure designed for real-time media. Learn more at RTB.io.© Roundtable 2026. By using this site you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy