The illusion of empty blind zones: How things may seem to appear out of nowhere in magic shows and road accidents (BLINDZONES)
The BLINDZONES project aims to elucidate the basic characteristics of the visual mechanisms underlying the recently discovered illusion of absence, while also investigating their potentially important role in traffic safety.
About the research project
In previous investigations (see reference to publication below), we have described a novel recently discovered illusion that evokes a strong feeling that the blind spot behind an obstruction of view is empty. This illusion of empty blind spots plays a pivotal role in stage magic and the art of conjuring. Because the blind zone behind certain obstructions of view looks compellingly empty, the magician may easily create the illusion that something materializes “out of thin air” by bringing it out from the blind spot behind the obstruction of view. One central aim of the BLINDZONES project is to improve our understanding of the visual mechanisms behind this illusion.
A second central aim is to determine to what extent and under what circumstances this illusion may be a contributing factor in road accidents. Even though the roof pillars next to the windscreen in cars look narrow, they can create large blind spots where pedestrians, bicyclists, motorcyclists or even other cars on collision course may lie hidden until it is much too late to brake. A central hypothesis that we will investigate in the project is that the windscreen pillars may evoke a strong illusion of empty blind spots which makes it difficult for car drivers to imagine that a collision with another road user located in the blind spot is even possible. If this hypothesis turns out to be true, it will have important implications for considerations regarding what type of interventions are optimal for reducing the risk of accidents associated with such obstructions of view. The results from the project may also have important implications for the plausibility of eye-witness statements and questions of culpability.
In the project, we employ a host of different research methods, such as measures of the neural correlates of the illusion, VR-simulations of relevant traffic scenarios and summaries of in-depth investigations of previous fatal accidents.
Project objectives
We aim to develop a basic scientific understanding of the perceptual illusion that the blind zone behind an object is empty and to clarify its implications for basic vision theory. In particular, the aim of the project is to determine the heuristic principles employed by the underlying visual mechanisms and to identify potential neural correlates of these mechanisms. Furthermore, the project aims to determine the potential role of the illusion in traffic accidents. Based on this research, we aim to answer the question of what countermeasures are most effective for reducing the risk of accidents associated with blind zones.
Project organisation and management
The BLINDZONES project group is organized as a consortium of researchers from the host university (University of Bergen), international partners from the University of Leuven, Radboud University and the University of Wrocław, as well as national partners from the Institute of Transport Economics. The project is anchored in The Decision, Intuition, Consciousness, and Emotion research group (DICE-lab) at The Department of Psychosocial Science (UiB), which includes several members with significant expertise in perception, decision-making and risk-evaluation.
The project is planned for four years and is composed of six main work packages (WPs). In addition to one PhD candidate (3 years) and one post-doctoral researcher (2 years) funded by the RCN, one PhD candidate (4 years) will be funded by the host institution (UiB). Both PhD candidates will be based at UiB, and the postdoctoral fellow will be employed in Rob van Lier’s lab at Radboud University in Nijmegen.
Background
An introduction to the topic of the research project is available in this publication:
Ekroll, V., Svalebjørg, M., Pirrone, A., Böhm, G., Jentschke, S., van Lier, R., Wagemans, J., & Høye, A. (2021). The illusion of absence: how a common feature of magic shows can explain a class of road accidents. Cognitive Research: Principles and Implications, 6, 22. https://doi.org/10.1186/s41235-021-00287-0 (external link)
Announcements
To investigate the possible role of the illusion of absence in real traffic accidents, we use UAG reports from the Norwegian Public Roads Administration. TØI (Institute of Transport Economics) is analysing these reports to identify scenarios where the illusion of absence may have been a contributing factor, linking experimental findings from the lab to real-world crashes. If you have been involved in a fatal traffic accident and do not want the data from your case to be included in these analyses, please contact Lars Even Egner at LEE@toi.no. Please describe the accident in enough detail (e.g. time, location, and vehicles involved) to allow it to be identified in the dataset.
Project results
Research conference contributions
Forster, P-P., Czub, M., Hazenberg, S. J., Ekroll, V., & van Lier, R. (2024) The illusion of absence: Perceiving occluded space as empty. Poster presented at the European Conference on Visual Perception.
Link to abstract (external link)
Link to poster (external link)
Ekroll, V., Forster, P.-P., Szymanski, D., & van Lier, R. (2025). The illusion of absence in the arts of magic and photography. Poster presented at the Visual Science of Art Conference (external link).
Link to abstract (external link)
Link to poster (external link)
Forster, P.-P., Miralem, M., van Lier, R., & Ekroll, V. (2025). Making objects float: How the perceptual space surrounding objects structures the perception of levitation. Poster presented at the Visual Science of Art Conference (external link).
Link to abstract (external link)
Link to poster (external link)
Forster, P-P., Jentschke, S., Ekroll, V., & van Lier, R. (2025). EEG activity in response to disocclusion of objects appearing from seemingly empty spaces. Poster presented at the 47th European Conference on Visual Perception. (external link)
Link to abstract (external link)
Link to poster (external link)
Karmakar, S., Miralem, M., Forster, P. P., van Lier, R., Ekroll, V., & Czub, M. (2025). An illusion of absence in a VR traffic scenario. Poster presented at the 47th European Conference on Visual Perception. (external link)
Link to abstract (external link)
Link to poster (external link):
Miralem, M., Karmakar, S., van Lier, R., Czub, M., & Ekroll, V. (2025). The illusion of absence: Smaller obstructions of view and binocular viewing create stronger impressions of empty spaces. Talk presented at the 47th European Conference on Visual Perception. (external link)
Link to abstract (external link)
Popular science presentations
Ekroll, V. (2025, August 26th). Magic and the imagination. Illusion & Demo Night, 47th European Conference on Visual Perception. (external link)
Link to abstract (external link)
Miralem, M., Karmakar, S., & Forster, P.-P. (2025, August 26th). The illusion of absence. Illusion & Demo Night, 47th European Conference on Visual Perception. (external link)
Link to abstract (external link)
Ekroll, V. (2024, August 27th). Visual and non-visual illusions in magic. Illusion Night, Aberdeen Art Gallery, European Conference on Visual Perception.
Link to abstract (external link)
Journal publications
Pierre-Pascal Forster, Simon Jan Hazenberg, Vebjørn Ekroll, Rob Van Lier. (2025). The illusory perception of occluded space as empty depends on the occluded area. i-Perception, 16(5), 1–12. https://doi.org/10.1177/20416695251372334 (external link) (Awarded with Early Career Best Paper Prize to P.-P. Forster)
People
Project manager
Vebjørn Ekroll Project Manager
Project group
Gisela Böhm University of Bergen
Sebastian Jentschke University of Bergen
Johan Wagemans University of Leuven
Rob van Lier Radboud University
Marcin Czub University of Wrocław
Alena Høye Institute of Transport Economics
Lars Even Egner Institute of Transport Economics
Project postdoc & PhDs
Pierre-Pascal Forster Postdoctoral fellow, Radboud University
Melika Miralem PhD Candidate, University of Bergen
Subhankar Karmakar PhD Candidate, University of Bergen
Advisory Board
Rebecca Chamberlain Goldsmiths, University of London
Andrea van Doorn Delft University of Technology
Jan Koenderink Delft University of Technology and Katholieke Universiteit Leuven
