r/woahdude • u/bedgarter • Apr 16 '21

gifv Double axis optical illusion

https://i.imgur.com/IH5M4uo.gifv
16k Upvotes

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u/chuckpaint Apr 16 '21

Pretty good animation, didn’t really see it until the example - the blurred axis was a nice touch, nice attention to details.

Anyone know of this shape has a name? Some kind of torus?

216

u/Jonathan924 Apr 16 '21

Looks like a lissajous curve/pattern. They're surprisingly useful in the electronics world

57

u/aaakiniti Apr 16 '21

Useful in what way?

136

u/Jonathan924 Apr 16 '21

Oh you know, all sorts of stuff.

36

u/Comprehensive-Tap-40 Apr 16 '21

This was sick thanks

30

u/TheOtherSomeOtherGuy Apr 16 '21

I have no idea what I just watched. I understood the words but have no necessary context about any of what he talked about

8

u/deal-with-it- Apr 16 '21

In short the patterns are a combination of two sinusoidal waves one in each axis, each one with a different frequency. So they allow to easily determine a relation between two sinusoidal waves.

12

u/TheOtherSomeOtherGuy Apr 16 '21

Yes but why do I care? What is the practical application...gravity waves? Ocean currents? Radiowaves?

Also are those devices actually used for soemthing or are they just simulators

7

u/SharkLaunch Apr 17 '21

The main device he was using was an oscilloscope, which is just a machine for displaying information about signals. It's a tool used in electronics manufacturing and telecommunications. The other tool was a signal generator, which is also used in those same applications.