The Crocs And Socks Optical Illusion Has Returned To Confuse The Internet

Created by professors Pascal Wallisch and Michael Karlovich in 2021, the short video has been the topic of recent debate after making a reappearance on social media. 

The video begins with two images of an individual wearing Crocs – one pair pink and the other pair green, both with beige socks. 

The next slide then shows a pair of Crocs with a green light overlay, making the beige socks now look neon green. Meanwhile, the shoes appear to look grey. 

Then, viewers are asked to discern what colour the Crocs are out of four images – pink, green, gold or grey. 

Much to the shock of most viewers, the Crocs are revealed to be pink. 

“What is going on here?” the video then asks. 

Wallisch and Karlovich explain: “Under green lights, pink objects look grey and white objects look green. 

“This illusion demonstrates the role of beliefs in colour perception.” 

The professors point out that a small number of people are able to ‘look past appearances’ and think out of the box, resulting in them correctly guessing the pink pair of Crocs. 

Wallisch and Karlovich continue: “Under normal lighting conditions, all people see the Crocs as pink. When put under green light, most people see the same Crocs as grey. 

“However, some people — those that believe the socks are white, even though they appear green — are able to look past appearances and see the Crocs as pink, just like they did under regular light.” 

The pair add that ‘prior experience colours perception’. 

Posted to Reddit, the photograph showed six women sitting on a sofa, but only five pairs of legs were visible. 

The social media user shared the image online in the hopes of getting some answers. However, people were equally confused as to what was going on in the snap. 

One person said: "The first girl is sitting over the second girl’s legs." 

However, others were left baffled by the illusion, stating that the photo simply ‘doesn’t add up’.