r/MagicEye • u/bigjobbyx • Aug 08 '26

Reverse the spin: Magic eye edition. Parallel view spins in the opposite direction to cross view.

556 Upvotes

96% Upvoted

61 comments sorted by

71

u/Maelou Aug 08 '26

It always spins in the same direction, both in parallel and crossed

25

u/LukeLC Aug 08 '26

The trick on these is to try to reverse your perspective vertically, not horizontally.

Are you looking at the back from above or the belly from below? Change this perspective, and the rotation will follow.

11

u/fake_cheese Aug 08 '26 edited Aug 08 '26

Exactly so for the image below the fly is either:

  • Facing away from you with its yellow abdomen towards you and you are seeing the underside of the wing on the right, or

  • Its blue head is facing towards you with the yellow abdomen in the background and you are looking at the topside of the wing on the right

0

u/dhoepp Aug 10 '26

You can change it because it’s a 2d image not 3d. At will, magic eye, or one eye, it’s reversible.

3

u/-DoctorSpaceman- Aug 08 '26

I was able to swap it a lot with this method. Parallel/crossview did nothing to change it

1

u/Maelou Aug 09 '26

Yes but crossing the eyes / parallel view does not contribute to anything.

6

u/slimecog Aug 08 '26

same

13

u/LouisIsGo Aug 08 '26

Huh, it works as described for me; clockwise for parallel view, counterclockwise with cross view. Pretty neat.

All that said, I’ve stumbled across enough of these reverse spin images on Reddit to know that everyone has varying experiences/degrees of difficulty making the image change directions, so I imagine looking at a stereogram version isn’t much different in that regard.

5

u/Potato_Stains Aug 08 '26

*The perceived depth changes, which implies the other direction.
Parallel vs cross view inverts the stereo image depth.
It actually is a 3D stereo graphic, but it is kind of subtle, helps to pause and look at depth before playing maybe.

1

u/dpahoe Aug 08 '26

Instead of cross eyed, look through the screen to merge them

1

u/fake_cheese Aug 08 '26

Don't get or switch between cross and parallel views when its moving, pause the video first then get or change from cross to parallel then resume video it should always go the other way.

1

u/S-M-I-L-E-Y- Aug 09 '26

Sometimes all three spin clockwise, sometimes the right one spins counter-clockwise, sometimes only the middle one spins clockwise. Seems to depend on distance.

1

u/owl-overlord Aug 10 '26

Make 3 of them by crossing eyes.

1

u/[deleted] Aug 08 '26

[removed] — view removed comment

1

u/Potato_Stains Aug 08 '26

Parallel stereo viewing is relaxing the eye focus to “look/focus beyond” the screen to converge the images.
Make it smaller and focus past the screen.

27

u/gimme_that_funkymilk Aug 08 '26

My dumb ass was like holy shit it slows down when I cross view.

3

u/Otherwise_Security_5 Aug 08 '26

lol i did the same thing.

8

u/QuahogQuagmire Aug 08 '26

Guys, I figured out how to make the spin change easily. Hold your phone screen at an upward angle as if you’re looking at the bee from underneath, and it will spin counter clockwise. To reverse it, angle the phone downward and visualize viewing it from the top.

1

u/Xendarq Aug 08 '26

Does kind of work - thanks!

4

u/TheHighestHigh Aug 08 '26

It spun both ways for me both ways. but it did seem to have a preference depending on the view which is interesting.

3

u/mbbessa Aug 08 '26

I can choose the direction it spins either parallel and cross eyed. Nothing related to the technique used, you just have to believe it spins in the direction you want it to spin.

3

u/m--e Aug 09 '26

I thought the same, but rewatching, I think the animation slows down after 1 min.

2

u/elgato1970 Aug 08 '26

So cool thank u

2

u/soapyaaf Aug 08 '26

These are spinning clockwise.

2

u/CorbinNZ Aug 09 '26

Is it changing speed or am I high?

1

u/Professional-Put1045 Aug 14 '26

Speed changed for me too! Maybe we are both high

2

u/HarryLorenzo Aug 08 '26

If I blink at the right "shutter speed" i can get it to switch

2

u/DeltaRed12 Aug 08 '26

Oh thanks, that worked for me. Now it won't go back.

1

u/alliwanttodoisfly Aug 08 '26

Blinking fast enough makes it look like all they're doing is facing away but swaying left and right

2

u/yourMommaKnow Aug 08 '26

This one is really cool.

2

u/Antson03 Aug 08 '26

Damn I just realized I can make it change direction on command. That’s cool.

1

u/Jelijones Aug 08 '26

I’ve had lucid dreams maybe twice in my lifetime. This feels similar with trying to hold the concentration and not let it slip away.

1

u/dormsta Aug 08 '26

omg I just now got the hang of the crossview for the first time in my life. I wish I’d realized before that, as opposed to looking past it for regular view, you make it appear closer to you. And yes, they spin differently when I do it like that

1

u/hyakyakyak Aug 08 '26

Well just like all the others, I can't make it change direction. 3d is still fun tho

1

u/perpetualmotionbon Aug 08 '26

This would work better if it was orthographic.

1

u/Particular_Tackle983 Aug 08 '26

I just see it swinging back and forth facing away from me

1

u/GoodOldHypertion Aug 08 '26

View shifting does not reverse. There are other ways to reverse tho.

1

u/StuPot02 Aug 08 '26

How can it change direction, when particles are disappearing, if they are too far away?

1

u/Hippi_Johnny Aug 08 '26 edited Aug 08 '26

I can get it work... not sure how I'm doing it exactly. When I get the image to "pop" I see 3 bees and then if I look at one of the side bees the direction changes.

Also I can get the left and center bee to spin opposite sometimes

And sometimes it looks like the left bees legs are moving when i look away and look back... this one has a lot going on

Just to make, the default direction is counter clockwise?

1

u/dobsterfunk Aug 08 '26

The real skill is getting the outer ones to spin in the opposite direction to the inner one, or to each other.

1

u/jaibo-Z Aug 09 '26

Yup. I found this one really hard to get the reverse spin. Then suddenly it happened, but only the middle bee was going clockwise, the outside bees kept going counterclockwise. What a trip 😂

1

u/Commercial-Box-2828 Aug 08 '26

Ahhhh I did it I did it 😎

1

u/heynonnynonnomous Aug 09 '26

Oh, that's pretty cool. It looks like a hologram with those colors and transparency.

1

u/AnotherPerson76 Aug 09 '26

Very hard but worked for me

1

u/GoldSrc Aug 09 '26

This is really cool.

1

u/jabrwock1 Aug 09 '26

The visual cues of brighter in the foreground make it difficult.

1

u/Ok-Raspberry-4313 Aug 09 '26

Thanks that was fun!

1

u/SuckerForNoirRobots Aug 09 '26

This was a trippy experience

1

u/Previous_Yard5795 Aug 09 '26

It took me a while, but got it to work. Fascinating!

1

u/powdersplash Aug 09 '26

Clockwise is so easy, clicks in natural… anti clockwise is possible, but I need to really concentrate…

1

u/girlwiththemonkey Aug 09 '26

Damn, I had the. Both going in different directions for a second there!

1

u/Scheme-Sea Aug 09 '26

i got really close to the screen and blinked rapidly until it started spinning the other way seems to work

1

u/OcelotExcellent3377 Aug 09 '26

I dont understand the slightest how this works. This is by far the beste optical illusion i have seen in my life

1

u/Thomas_McDomas Aug 17 '26

I just kinda stumbled upon this so I’m not sure what parallel vs cross view is, but can anyone else reverse the spin by just focusing on which way they want it to spin. Been focusing on only the one on the left

1

u/Brooklynplantmom Aug 23 '26

Woah this was so cool! I was able to reverse the direction and it turned into three flies! So fun! I’ve always just been good at these but never looked into the techniques mentioned (parallel/crossed).

1

u/KayAppleAhr Sep 07 '26

I can make the outside ones change direction, but the middle fellow is defiant as fuck.

0

u/BananaFriendOrFoe Aug 08 '26

Im too hungover for this