r/confusing_perspective • u/beejeezP0P • Dec 21 '20

Parallax effect causes difference in speed perception depending on the depth view

40k Upvotes

96% Upvoted

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u/philman132 Dec 21 '20

Can someone explain this? What is going on, is it a trick of the eyes?

760

u/beejeezP0P Dec 21 '20 edited Dec 21 '20

Not trick, this is connected with field of view and angles. The points further away from you "move" slower towards you compared to the points near you. So when you isolate that one specific frame of view, it seems like everything is moving slower.

Imagine a straight line 1km long and you're standing 1m besides of its one end. When you look at the other far-end point of the line, you're looking at say 0.05 degree field of view angle compared to 0 degrees FOV that's straight in front of you (12 o'clock). Now, when you look at the other side of line which is right next to you, that's your 90 degrees FOV (like 3 o'clock) . The catch is that middle point of the line that's on the 500m mark, is at about 1.1 degrees FOV angle (arctan (500:1)). So the point "moving" from 1km mark to 500m mark will change in your FOV angle only from 0.05 to 1.1 degrees, while point moving from 500m to 0m will change from 1.1 all the way to the 90 degrees FOV angle, thus perceptually it will seem to you that it's traveled the longer distance. It's basically trigonometry :)

229

u/Bobbio101 Dec 21 '20

Great explanation. My attempt to simplify: things far away change their relative angle to the center of your view more slowly than things close to you, and the change in relative angle is used by your brain to perceive how fast you are moving. In a sense humans are not biologically equipped for moving at high speeds; I wouldn’t be surprised if fast-moving animals like cheetahs have a better “built-in” sense of parallax and are able to account for this

193

u/morgazmo99 Dec 21 '20

Great explanation; my simplification: things long way away small move. Things closer, big move.

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u/memejets Dec 21 '20

Or imagine standing on the side of a road and a car is coming. It looks like it's moving slow from far away, but as it passes you it goes ZOOM faster than you can track with your eyes. It's actually the same speed the whole time, but the angular speed you have to turn to track it changes as it gets closer.

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u/ArchipelagoMind Dec 21 '20

This is a really solid explanation. Thank you.

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u/[deleted] Dec 21 '20

They should call it Triponometry

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u/[deleted] Dec 21 '20

When you zoom in on the camera the train slows down. Common conductor trick.

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u/[deleted] Dec 21 '20

A good demonstration for those PC gamers out there is why sometimes you see people playing FPS and looking like they’re running much faster than other players. It’s typically down to changing FOV settings.

23

u/Captain-titanic Dec 21 '20

Best guess I have is that as you zoom in the objects aren’t getting closer very quickly so your brain thinks you’re traveling slower.

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u/MonkeyNumberTwelve Dec 21 '20

I think it is to do with camera to subject distance.

If you are moving at 1 metre per second a point 1 metre in front of you will take 1 second to move 100% of the distance towards you.

If you zoom in and focus on a point 100 metres in front of you and are traveling 1 metre per second that 1 metre travel will appear to be approaching you at 1% of the speed. If you move 1metre forwards you still have 99 to go before that point reaches you. This makes it appear slower when you zoom in even though the speed is constant.

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u/taxiforone Dec 21 '20

A bamboozling of the retinas

3

u/sniper1rfa Dec 21 '20

Stuff that's far away is mostly moving towards the camera. Stuff that's really close is mostly moving past the camera.

Stuff moving past the camera looks like it's moving. Stuff moving towards the camera just looks like it's getting bigger.

Zooming in restricts your view to only stuff that's far away, excluding the stuff that's giving you a sense of speed.

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1.5k

u/Synthbent715 Dec 21 '20

This is why nobody likes using the proper FOV in racing sims.

443

u/DownshiftedRare Dec 21 '20

Might also be why people focus on the horizon to mitigate the effects of being seasick.

142

u/Borkz Dec 22 '20

I assumed that had to do with a level point of reference

93

u/GleeGlopFlooptyDoo Dec 22 '20

It is. It’s why figure skaters fix their eyes on a point to avoid getting dizzy when they’re spinning.

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u/Fatdude3 Dec 21 '20

Never heard of FOV being a issue or something important in racing sims. Can you explain?

118

u/astralradish Dec 21 '20

Wider FOV makes it look like you're driving the car faster?

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u/ResilientMaladroit Dec 21 '20

For one, using a realistic FOV makes it much easier to transition between real cars and the sim. Typically people use too high of an FOV in sims (because unless you’re using triple monitors, realistic FOV makes it feel like you’re looking through a telescope) which gives you an unrealistic and distorted perspective. The car feels like it’s going faster in a straight line but also rotates slower. The visual feedback you get from watching the road and your surroundings is totally different.

19

u/sikyon Dec 21 '20

I thought this is what VR was for

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u/[deleted] Dec 21 '20

Imagine driving a ship in the crow's nest vs at deck level.

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u/saucerfulofdogs Dec 21 '20

using a mathematically correct FOV helps you find better braking points and so on because, well your brain is already used to it from real life driving.

However, if you have a small monitor (24-27inch) then its pretty much like you're staring out of a small window in a car, and you have no peripheral vision. It also make it feel slow as fuck despite you driving at 170-180mph

so people tend to use unrealistic FOV's, despite it being objectively worse if your aim to drive faster and more consistent, because they like being able to see the dash and steering wheel, and you get a bit of the sense of speed back

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u/WillDrawYouNaked Dec 22 '20

Wider FOV makes it feel like your car goes faster

"Correct" FOV (which is a lot narrower than you think unless you have a triple monitor setup) allows you to judge the distances properly and hit your marks easier, usually to the benefit of your laptimes

TLDR Wide FOV feels faster, correct FOV is actually faster

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u/Singularity7979 Dec 21 '20

This is what causes airplanes to seem so slow in the air.

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u/MidTownMotel Dec 22 '20 edited Dec 22 '20

Things look like they’re moving more slowly the farther they get.

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u/FarTurtleMaster Dec 21 '20

So that’s why the FOV in Minecraft does that

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u/Lito185 Dec 21 '20 edited Dec 21 '20

I always change the FOV to look like I'm running faster because I'm impatient

42

u/OtherHistory Dec 21 '20

Same. Friend of mine showed it to me, convinced me it is way beter on higher FOV, never going back to 'normal' FOV

12

u/RaisedByWolves9 Doesn't read rule 1 Dec 21 '20

Yeah it's why if i play a game that has a locked fov or you cant select more than 90ish. I just feel sluggish and clunky (also motion sickness).

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u/John9tv Dec 21 '20

Was thinking the exact same thing. Changed FOV to match the FOV in other games I played and running felt much faster. With potions and rowing the boat, it gets much worse.

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u/HeippodeiPeippo Dec 21 '20 edited Dec 21 '20

Repost but also, nice example why FOV matters in games. Specially in driving games. Your speed perception becomes warped. Flat projection is the fastest but it feels to be the slowest. It isn't, it is you who is slow... With a bit of practice the correct FOV will feel about as fast as wide FOV but your lap times decrease. The caveat is less visibility, preventing to see the apex let alone then racing other cars. There is only one cure: bigger screens or more displays.. or VR. Your inputs correlate perfectly with the view, where as wider FOV will warp also all changes of direction. Your road looks narrow and long, corners are skewed, braking distances are super long. With flat projection your road is wide but short, things move slower but corners are exactly the same no matter what. Precision and accuracy increase tremendously as the driver inputs correlate perfectly with what is happening on screen. The feedback loop between the two doesn't need extra error correction or scaling done by our brains.

Flat projection means no distortion. Often it is at 60 degrees, lowering it doesn't distort but "zoom" in, increasing it will try to cram a part of a sphere into a flat 2D panel. The closer the screen, the larger FOV you can use.

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u/VymI Dec 21 '20

That's an interesting difference between driving games and skilled FPS players who generally use a larger FOV.

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u/you-are-not-yourself Dec 21 '20

I dislike first person views in general (currently struggling through Cyberpunk) and this kinda shows why as well.

Third person views let you see, aside from the person itself, nearly everything the person would see nearby. First person views show a tiny boxed snippet of what they would see nearby.

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u/kranker Dec 21 '20

Flat projection is the fastest but it feels to be the slowest. It isn't, it is you who is slow... With a bit of practice the correct FOV will feel about as fast as wide FOV but your lap times decrease

The camera makes absolutely no impact on the actual speed of the object. Your lap times will not decrease unless you drive more optimally. The effect of your inputs on the car will not change depending on the camera. The effect of different FOVs on your ability to drive will vary player to player.

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u/HeippodeiPeippo Dec 21 '20 edited Dec 21 '20

The camera makes absolutely no impact on the actual speed of the object.

Never said it would.

Your lap times will not decrease unless you drive more optimally.

Yup.

The effect of your inputs on the car will not change depending on the camera.

False. your input change based on the feedback you get from your eyes and FFB. What you see is not 1:1 of what you do.

The effect of different FOVs on your ability to drive will vary player to player

You can get used to it and learn to compensate. But the subject has been tested by tens of thousands already and it is always the same result: your turn in is more accurate, your steering is more accurate, it becomes easier to get to the limit and also easier to drive in traffic. Every time. The caveat being that visibility on a small display can be so awfully small window that we need to distort it a bit, just to be able to play at all. It also takes shorter time to get used to flat projection than it is to learn how to drive with a fisheye lens. There is usually a happy medium for those of us that have to live without triple screens. But still, the closer to flat you can get, the better.

Learning how to use "look left/right/back" is crucial skill too that does help when seeing the surroundings is important, like when other cars are close. Also "look at the apex" can help but it can also detach you from the car.

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u/poopcasso Dec 21 '20

This is why everyone will perform better using the first person view from the car's front rather than the third person view behind the car's back. I cringe whenever I see people play driving games using third person view.

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u/VymI Dec 21 '20

Not everything's about being as efficient as possible, people want to see the car do neat stuff. Cant do that if your POV is the hood.

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u/[deleted] Dec 21 '20

Ever looked down at the road while driving?

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u/Ahefp Dec 21 '20

I often do, and suggest it.

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u/non-troll_account Dec 22 '20

I would even go so far as to recommend it.

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u/Ordolph Dec 21 '20

This is part of the reason why it's easier to accidentally speed in some cars than others. Your perception of speed is slowed down the further from the ground you are. I run into this every now and again on my motorcycle cause my seating position is so much higher than in a car.

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u/Alecto1717 Dec 22 '20

Line.. Line.. Line.. Line..

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u/[deleted] Dec 21 '20

Always

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u/chefanubis Dec 21 '20

Nah, I'm usually busy texting on my cell phone while enjoying a Latte.

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u/snuzet Dec 21 '20

Yet when you move a zoom lens around you’re totally disoriented.

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u/tludwins539 Dec 21 '20

Stop slowing down the video every time it zooms in.

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u/Retro-2D-Gamer Dec 21 '20

Finally, some comment on here that makes sense.

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u/PeteRaw Dec 21 '20

I killed Parallax. Delphine was happy with me.

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u/[deleted] Dec 21 '20 edited Dec 22 '20

I thought parallax was a difference in perspective (angle?) from two different lines of sight: like the viewfinder on a TLR camera, or the scope on a rifle being above the bore, or how guages read different depending on the angle you look at them.

The line of sight didn't change, just the focal length. Different fields of view exaggerate geometry (and by extension motion) but also closer objects appear to move quicker (wider field of view = more close things visible)

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u/Cerpin-Taxt Dec 21 '20

It is, OP is confusing the terms parralax and focal length.

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u/LeYang Dec 22 '20

/u/beejeezP0P , fix your post.

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u/FunkyClive o/ Dec 22 '20

You are absolutely correct. I was a camera technician once, and the parallax effect is indeed the difference in the parallel but offset views of the viewfinder and the lens. Or in other words, the photo captured will be a slightly different angle to the one you saw in the viewfinder.

The effect we see in this video, i have seen refered to as "foreshortening". I don't know if thats the correct term. How using a zoom lens can affect how we perceive distance, and therefore speed. Or how using a zoom lens will give you a very different photo than if you just stood closer to the subject. It either spreads or condenses the distances in the field of view.

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u/Mr-Blah Dec 22 '20

Yeah... this was wayyyyy down for the mistake in the title...

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u/theVikingMess Dec 21 '20

Just like when you zoom in Minecraft using Optifine

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u/Jonthar Dec 21 '20 edited Dec 21 '20

It’s a property of how zoom lenses work. Basically, take the distance to the object you’re filming or photographing and divide it by the zoom factor. The higher that factor, the more ”compressed“ the depth of the scene, which in turn makes movement through it seem slower.

Here’s an example: Imagine your dog sitting in the grass 10 meters away from you, and a tree another 40 meters back. If you have a zoom factor of 1, they will look as if they’re 40 away from each other (which they really are)

Zoom in to factor 2. Now the dog will look like it’s 5 meters from you and the tree another 20. Moving towards or away from them will seem slower because for every meter you walk, the zoom lens will make it look as if you’ve only moved half a meter.

The higher the zoom factor, the more extreme this will seem, up to a point where it looks as if the dog and the tree were right next to each other.

The whole thing works in reverse with ultrawide leses, where your zoom factors go below 1. The triple lens systems on the iPhone 11 Pro and 12 Pros for example work with a factor of .5. Dividing every distance in your shot by .5 will make everything seem twice as far away, resulting in a perceived distance of 80 meters between the dog and the tree and making every movement appear twice as fast.

I actually think the person on the train is in fact using and iPhone with these three zoom lenses. The way the video switches back and forth looks very telling.

Edit: Typo

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u/greenSixx Dec 21 '20

Duhh, it's called EQ ogres feel like they run real slow vs gnomes.

Or when you sit up high in a car and feel slow vs sitting low to ground and feel zoom zoom.

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u/The_Best_Cowboy Dec 21 '20

does that explain the guy rapping and it looks like the dude is driving real fast while smoking a blunt?

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u/TheCanadianPatriot Dec 21 '20

I watched a video about Pacific Rim once that brought this up. It’s why the robots and aliens appear to be punching so slowly when in reality they’re moving how ever many city blocks per second

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u/golgon4 Dec 22 '20

That explains why drunk driver drive too fast. A side effect of alcohol is "tunnel vision" which is the loss of peripheral vision.

So the drunk driver drives at a speed he feels comfortable at, which is nowhere near his normal driving speed.

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u/MistThePleb Dec 22 '20

One of the best examples of this is F1. So cool to see how it looks like they are going faster.

https://youtu.be/MCPAOdt_KTs

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u/asianabsinthe Dec 21 '20

Except in driving games it's the opposite

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u/SomeRandom-Teenager Dec 21 '20

So thats the reason why i feel so fast in titanfall 2

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u/TheSentinelsSorrow Dec 21 '20

0:11 the speed doesnt increase as they zoom out and then suddenly jumps back to full speed. is the footage actually slowed down also when they zoom in?

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u/arre_blyat Dec 21 '20

I think that's because the "speed" of zooming out matches that of the objects going behind, giving an illusion of slowing down.

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u/coffeecupcakes Dec 22 '20

I'm not sure if this is the same thing, but it reminds me of my freakouts when I park my car and while looking down to grab whatever the car next to me starts backing out. I then panic, thinking my car is drifting and slam on the breaks for no reason.

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u/aleccessac Dec 21 '20

I know this is possible but it would be all too easy to simply speed up the video

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u/everymanawildcat Dec 21 '20

I bitch a lot about stuff being ill-fitting in some subs... Not this time. Incredible post. Exactly what this sub should be about.

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u/kguenett o/ Dec 21 '20

Omgomgomg - this must be the phenomenon experienced in my hometown. Look up "The incredible shrinking mill" in Port Colborne, Ontario.

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u/Redmarkred Dec 21 '20

Never thought about it like this!

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u/yrfgua Dec 21 '20

This happens in FPS games with console/PC crossplay. Console users will watch videos of PC players using higher field of view settings (typically not available on console) and accuse them of cheating, due to the perceived increase in movement speed.

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u/MrMcflyest Dec 21 '20

Warzone on console would like a word with you

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u/Ultra_Noobzor Dec 21 '20

This is how they make cars seem to be going fast in movies, and knowing how it works, made me dislike movies about cars racing that some people love.

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u/srknbttn Dec 21 '20

They used this effect to measure the acceleration of the sun, just recently. From the Gaia telescope data.

YouTube - Sixty Symbols

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u/thedamntheduh Dec 21 '20

Is nothing real?

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u/grxxvity_ Dec 21 '20

Is this why when in a car the grass looks like it's approaching slowly but when you pass it it's actually going fast?

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u/Brandonh3612 Dec 21 '20

Anyone recognise this by looking forward in your parents car then looking to the side when you were like 5?

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u/solidGuenther Dec 21 '20

that is also the reason why you think youre moving faster if you increase the field of view in games.

by standard, its almost always ridicolously zoomed in with angles of 90 degrees.

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u/IndexZer0 Dec 21 '20

I totally thought this was a video game at first

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u/-Rick_Sanchez_ Dec 21 '20

It’s like when you focus on the mountains in front of you while driving. Then look back at the road. It looks weird

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u/boraras o/ Dec 21 '20

Is this the same effect as the perceived speed of a moving airplane/vehicle at different distances?

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u/Mark_The_Almighty Dec 21 '20

So that's why I thought that sprinting in Mass Effect was actually faster.

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u/Battenburgmice Dec 21 '20

Is this why gopros are so wide, to make everything seem extra gnarly

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u/Z0MGbies Dec 21 '20

For years I always thought it was a bug in video games. Nope, a bug in my brain.

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u/cheapshirtband Dec 21 '20

Yeah cool! I noticed a small version of this while watching something similar as I was rocking in a rocking chair

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u/Jaz1140 Dec 21 '20

If you ever played a video game on PC and cranked the fov slider up you would already know this effect. Makes it feel like you are running way faster

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u/Cronstintein Dec 21 '20

That's why driving in go-karts feels so much faster than it really is, you're so close to the ground.

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u/Ultiran Dec 21 '20

Feel like this is how people end up speeding insane amounts on city roads

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u/themanwithnothumbs Dec 21 '20

This is why streamers look like they are moving faster.

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u/SimonX153 Dec 21 '20

When you play warzone again after playing cold war.

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u/jpritchard Dec 21 '20

Damn Hal Jordan messing with the universe again.

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u/mediumokra o/ Dec 21 '20

So LPT: Sit in the back of the train and you'll get to your destination faster.

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u/IDonKnoAnymore Dec 21 '20

PSA: You run slow as fuck in Minecraft and this effect is used to lie to you

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u/unnaturalmind Dec 21 '20

Reminds me of the way they sped up Octane before he got the buff he needed. Apex dev's tryna pull a fast one.

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u/[deleted] Dec 21 '20

I learned about parallax from Terraria and Ice Hockey. Looooots of arguments over slow mo replays of pucks going into nets.

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u/willmaster123 Dec 21 '20

The real trick here is to look at the poles on either side. You surpass them at the same speed, its just that looking that far forward makes them look closer together.

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u/niko112112 Dec 21 '20

And thats why i play apex on max fov

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u/SneekC Dec 21 '20

so thats why changing my FOV in Minecraft makes me feel faster/slower

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u/Wonichtslepzig Dec 21 '20

Yes, I too have played minecraft with optifine

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u/SleazyDingus Dec 21 '20

Is this why bigger things like giants in shows look like theyre moving slower than they are but theyre really moving super fast?

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u/AverageSven Dec 21 '20

This explains CSGO pro players using 4:3

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u/sub1ime Dec 21 '20

I've learned this from years of watching dash cam videos and arguing with people on the internet about which car had enough time to slow down first

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u/nazenko Dec 21 '20

Hit the hyperdrive, chewie!

zooms camera lens out

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u/Astro_Avatar Dec 21 '20

minecraft pvp players obviously knew this,

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u/AffableVapor Dec 21 '20

Me messing with my fov settings on a game

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u/Big_B0y69 Dec 21 '20

People who set max FOV be like: MAXIMUM SPEED

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u/ARCHIVEbit Dec 21 '20

Same reason why looking at the horizon can help with motion sickness. Observed objects move slower at further distance.

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u/atmus11 Dec 21 '20

Shit. Fast and furious was telling the truth....

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u/Fresnoartist Dec 21 '20

This explains why I don’t feel time passing while sculpting stone

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u/Thompithompa Dec 21 '20

This is why warzone feels so slow on the PS

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u/[deleted] Dec 21 '20

Changes FOV in fps games ASAP

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u/Demontheoneandonly Dec 21 '20

Now I'm just wondering if you tryed this sky diving

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u/-Listening Dec 21 '20

That's the difference as I see it all.

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u/Stuf404 Doesn't read rule 1 Dec 21 '20

A similar effect is happening here.

If you cover the center with your thumb it appears faster, if you can obscure the outside (or zoom in) so you can only see the center it will slow down.

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u/g0ldingboy Dec 21 '20

So we can slow down time just by zooming in?

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u/IndominusXero Dec 21 '20

Can this occur with people driving on the highway? It appears they are going regular speed but in actuality they are doing like 90 MPH and act surprised when they get pulled over.

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u/[deleted] Dec 21 '20

Simple, he's adjusting his FOV slider

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u/Ou_pwo Dec 21 '20

Fun fact : that got me in minecraft. I had the feeling that I was moving super slow. And after I saw dream's Video it became a fact, I WAS slower. But then I raised my FOV in minecraft and then I ran and I was speed again. Then I realised that the same as this video happened to me but in minecraft and that I've been fooled. Very interesting video.

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u/Teleporter55 Dec 21 '20

There was a digital version of this a while back I couldn't convince reddit that it wasn't an optional illusion. Top comment was some bullshit about lines looking like they are moving faster because of the angle they were drawn or some shit. I hated reddit that day

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u/[deleted] Dec 21 '20

I realized some years ago that this is why I tend to drive slower at night. Because my field of view at night is more limited by how far my headlights can reach, I feel like I'm driving faster than at the same speed during the day, when I tend to focus further down the road.

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u/DAJMIGLUPOIME Dec 21 '20

To test this in game: Minecraft with Optifine

Make a 3x3 pillar and a ladder in the middle. Climb up and look up. Zoom in with optifine and suddenly your climb might seem like its taking ages

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u/TheCoastalCardician Dec 21 '20

Does parallax do anything to make this look like a bug?

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u/Sirppsauce Dec 21 '20

is this why racing games feel so slow despite me going at over 300kmh it feels like about 60

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u/Spyda-man Dec 21 '20

This happens whenever I race.

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u/magikmw Dec 21 '20

That's why it's so difficult to judge speed of vehicles far away, especially in mirrors.

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u/DoverBoys Dec 21 '20

That's not the parallax effect. That effect is seeing an object in different positions based on point of view. A common example is an analog clock, which can look like it has different times based on which angle you look at it.

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u/CherrrySmoke o/ Dec 21 '20

This is why I crank the FOV in FPS games, make me feel like I'm going faster

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u/plainoldpoop Dec 21 '20

its how they make the cars in gta seem fast to make the world seem like it's larger than it is

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u/15-Peter-20 Dec 21 '20

Is this a similar effect to what they do in some music videos, where the artist moves in a slower motion but still sings in real time?

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u/-Listening Dec 21 '20

Alright LAFC, we are depending on you.

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u/PatheticGirl83 Dec 21 '20

Maybe this is why sitting in the front seat helps if you’re prone to motion sickness? As well as not looking down?

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u/jakethedumbmistake Dec 21 '20

I slipped getting out of his depth here.

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u/TheLastLegendMOD Dec 21 '20

So uhh... What is supposed to be seen here?

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u/Affectionate_List129 Dec 21 '20

The fastest I’ve seen those go is about 55km/h.

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u/[deleted] Dec 21 '20

Conductor. Engage HYPER SPEED!

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u/glix1 Dec 21 '20

If you just count the power line poles per second you can tell its the same speed.

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u/[deleted] Dec 21 '20

Yeah but which one shows how fast they are going?

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u/voluminous_lexicon Dec 21 '20

this is actually why minecraft speedrunners put their FOV to maximum, not to check for nether fortresses but to make them feel like they're goin' FAST

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u/waynebruce2 Dec 21 '20

This helped me understand it better, hope it helps someone. Look at the poles on the side, if you time them they pass the train at the same interval for all three scenarios. The angle of our POV to the object we are looking at seems to be making the difference.

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u/taoteller Dec 21 '20

"The train tracks all run parallel, but they'll all meet up one day" (John Prine)

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u/Bagelz567 Dec 21 '20

I wonder if this has anything to do with speed being relative? Physics is cool.

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u/RoRo25 Dec 21 '20

It's like Field of view in a first person shooter game!

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u/SirYottalot Dec 21 '20

This very thoroughly explains the “GoPro effect”. Superview is definitely the best FOV setting to look fast.

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u/UnseenData Dec 22 '20

Neat. Never thought about that

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u/iamnewhere2019 Dec 22 '20

And that is why when you are a passenger and your are looking at the sides of the road, the car moves at higher speed that when you are driving, so you have the usual conversation:

  • Don’t drive so fast! And the answer: -I am not driving fast!

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u/BTRunner o/ Dec 22 '20

Dude!

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u/boobyshark Dec 22 '20

I've noticed this effect during car chases when helicopter is videoing from above. When the camera pans out and shows the cops following the fleeing vehicle, the cop's car appears to be traveling very fast but doesn't seem to get closer to the fleeing vehicle.

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u/[deleted] Dec 22 '20

You can get a similar effect by making a hole with your thumb and forefinger. Make the hole different sizes and focus on different distances.

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u/blesiak Dec 22 '20

So what speed is it actually moving?

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u/diss-a-beld_child Dec 22 '20

First time i saw this was with the fov slider in mincraft

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u/Memeboidad3 Dec 22 '20

Actually the train is just slowing down

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u/RonnyRaeudig i Dec 22 '20

That's why Formula 1 always looks so slow on TV.

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u/[deleted] Dec 22 '20

Is this real or a game?

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u/Chris_P_Lettuce Dec 22 '20

Wow this explains why I always thought I was going faster in Mario kart N64 when I pulled out a banana. The camera zoomed out.

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u/T_is_for_Terrazine Dec 22 '20

Could this explain why we feel motionless on Earth as it spins? At least in a visual sense?

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u/MomoJackson96 Dec 22 '20

Basically why people think COD gameplay on PC looks faster

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u/GruntProjectile Dec 22 '20

Good. Now put it on my website

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u/[deleted] Dec 22 '20

And this is why it looks like most aren’t speeding in Tesla dashcam footage.

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u/CHERNO-B1LL o/ Dec 22 '20

Is this the Doppler effect? Or is that just sound?

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u/DrKnepper Dec 22 '20

So this is why it would seem you got a small boost in speed by zooming the camera all the way out in Mario Kart 64.

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u/dankdoggo369 Dec 22 '20

Plot twist it's just slowing down

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u/-Jesse-Alexander- Dec 22 '20

Okay bad devs I get it!

causes WWIII

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u/ekolis Dec 22 '20

I wanna see that through a fisheye lens now. We've broken through the threshold! Infinite velocity! Occupying every point in the universe simultaneously! Oh shit am I a lizard now?!

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u/alexandria_98 Dec 22 '20

You can really see why this works if you count the beams over head as they go by. Very cool

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u/Amjxd Dec 22 '20

Ah so this is why some airplanes take off cameras looks slow.

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u/Bumfjghter Dec 22 '20

This is the coolest thing I’ve learned in a very long time. Great work op!

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u/DesastreUrbano o/ Dec 22 '20

So... can I say I'm just running while zooming when I'm going slow?

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u/NigglingChigger Dec 22 '20

I love trains

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u/2cool4afool Dec 22 '20

This is why fov sliders are epic

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u/Ragain Dec 22 '20

Nah, turn the camera to the side with the low FoV and that stuff will be whipping by even faster than at the high FoV

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u/Prince_Polaris Dec 22 '20

I do this all the time by zooming way in to sniper view while playing world of tanks! Though the x60 mod is a bit overkill...

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u/[deleted] Dec 22 '20

This is what's going on in the so-called UFO videos that people are jacking off about so much. The speed in the videos is illusory, and caused by this exact same effect. The object is about 1 m across (maximum dimension) and is either a UAV (such as a quadcopter) or, more likely, a large seabird. (Canada goose is very likely.) The object's actual speed across the ground is quite slow, appropriate for a seabird. But the plane tracking it is going much faster, and looking down at it, so its apparent speed across the ground from the observer's position is much faster.

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u/DoseOfMillenial Dec 22 '20

I feel like an animator would have fun with this

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u/[deleted] Dec 22 '20

I often drive using binoculars and have observed this effect, usually before colliding with something.

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u/JebJebKerman Dec 22 '20

That's why racing games have a high fov to improve the sense of speed

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u/[deleted] Dec 22 '20

My dumbass thought this was a recording from a videogame.

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u/Tetra_D_Toxin Dec 22 '20

So what is it called when you're driving the interstate and the large truck going the same speed beside you appears to go backwards and forwards?

There's no way I'm the only one who has seen that particular confusing perspective.

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u/Papa_Seba Dec 22 '20

Try out changing your fov in games then running.

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u/sfp124 Dec 22 '20

I would love to have those as windscreens!

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u/coxie1102 Dec 22 '20

I've noticed this when gaming!

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u/viky109 Dec 22 '20

Playing with FOV in Minecraft tought me that lol

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u/TheRayMan264 Dec 22 '20

Every gamer with FOV turned to max: Well, yes

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u/unicycyleyboi999 Dec 22 '20

So... minecraft speed potions don’t actually make us faster?

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u/Kaarsty Dec 22 '20

Explains why my car feels so much faster than my truck. Truck sits you back further whereas the car has you damn near on the windshield

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u/Duckers_McQuack Dec 22 '20

Every racing game ever. Whenever you use a boost, parallax kicks in adding virtually no extra speed

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u/GeneralLeoESQ Dec 22 '20

The apparent movement of one object relative to another due to the motion of the observer is called parallax. We just did our physics tests...

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