Visual Reorientation Illusions (VRIs)

[Hugh]

Anyone here ever get their bearings turned around and experience what is known as a Visual Reorientation Illusion (VRI)?

It's when everything around you, including you, experience an instant rotation of your directional bearings - either 90 degrees to the right or left, or 180 degrees completely around.

Here is a diagram I made up to show what the start and end postions are for each type of VRI:

I have experienced VRIs since I was a child, and thought that everyone experienced them.

I've talked to many people that experience them, and have found some mention of them on the internet.

The first account I came across on the net was an article by Ann Druffel in which she talked about Subjective Directional Flips.

Here is a link to her article called "East is West and North is South" http://www.llewellyn.com/bookstore/article.php?id=50

Here is a quote from the above link: "There are two common types of subjective direction flip. Go into a movie theater, for instance, situated on a northeast corner in your home town. Emerging a couple of hours later, you might discover that the theater now seems to be situated on the southwest corner, exactly opposite to where it was when you entered. The direction anomaly in this instance is not lasting, for the environs “flip back” while you walk to your car or wait on the corner for a bus. If you discuss the incident with friends, no one offers an explanation except to say, “Yes, that happens sometimes.”

Another article I found was by Dr. Charles M. Oman who did some studies for NASA of VRIs that occur commonly for astronauts.

Up in space, in a weightless environment, one's bearings get flipped around often, for example when you see someone float by you upside down and all of a sudden you feel that it is you that is upside down and your bearings flip 180 degrees around from top to bottom!

In the article he says "Actually, it is possible to have a VRI right here on Earth, as when you leave an underground subway station labyrinth, and upon seeing a familiar visual landmark, realize that e.g. you are facing east, not west. On Earth, gravity constrains our body orientation, and provides an omnipresent "down" cue, so we normally only experience VRIs about a vertical axis."

Here is the link to that article and the quote is from page 4 there: http://ocw.mit.edu/NR/rdonlyres/Aeronautic...orientation.pdf

ArtemisArcheress started a thread a while back called Perception http://www.unexplained-mysteries.com/forum...showtopic=96930 in which she talked about being able to see her Grandmother's house and a few other places from two different directions.

This perceptual ability is what I believe is created by a VRI flip.

With practice, one can do a VRI flip to see any place from four different directions (see the diagram above).

I find it easiest to consciously do a VRI flip in a movie theater.

Anyone else here ever experience this?

(I started a thread a few years ago here on the forum about the VRI: http://www.unexplained-mysteries.com/forum...showtopic=82537 but instead of ressurecting the old one I thought I'd just start a new one.)

[Virtual Particle]

There is also the disorientation caused in Earth Quakes.

http://www.bibliotecapleyades.net/ciencia/...a_tsunami13.htm

Any thoughts?

PS: Given the sypmtoms what would be the effect of a massive earth quake on the human mind?

PSS: Metaphysically speaking of course.

Edited July 27, 2009 by Triad

[Hugh]

There is also the disorientation caused in Earth Quakes.

http://www.bibliotecapleyades.net/ciencia/...a_tsunami13.htm

Any thoughts?

PS: Given the sypmtoms what would be the effect of a massive earth quake on the human mind?

I'm not sure how this directly relates to this thread about VRIs Triad, but in any case, the VRIs that I have experienced have not been related to earthquakes at all...

[Virtual Particle]

Well earth-quakes induce objective directional flips.

Any thoughts?

[Hugh]

Well earth-quakes induce objective directional flips.

Any thoughts?

VRIs are subjective though, meaning only the person themself sees their directional orientation flip around.

Although I would agree with a strong earthquake there would be some objective directional flips , they would involve relative movement between the person and surroundings...

VRIs happen in an instant, and the person and surroundings stay exactly the same relative to one another, but flipped in orientation relative to the start and end positions.

[Virtual Particle]

An illusion is an experience in disorientation.

il·lu·sion

Pronunciation:\i-ˈlü-zhən\

Function:noun

Etymology:Middle English, from Anglo-French, from Late Latin illusion-, illusio, from Latin, action of mocking, from illudere to mock at, from in- + ludere to play, mock — more at ludicrous

Date:14th century

1 aobsolete : the action of deceiving b (1): the state or fact of being intellectually deceived or misled : misapprehension (2): an instance of such deception

2 a (1): a misleading image presented to the vision (2): something that deceives or misleads intellectually b (1): perception of something objectively existing in such a way as to cause misinterpretation of its actual nature (2): hallucination 1 (3): a pattern capable of reversible perspective

3: a fine plain transparent bobbinet or tulle usually made of silk and used for veils, trimmings, and dresses

synonyms see delusion

— il·lu·sion·al \-ˈlüzh-nəl, -ˈlü-zhə-nəl\ adjective

illusion. (2009). In Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary.

Retrieved July 26, 2009, from http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/illusion

Any thoughts?

[Hugh]

An illusion is an experience in disorientation.

Well there is a disorientation involved, but there is also an awareness that one is facing a new direction after a VRI flip.

The disorientation part comes in because one's bearings of North, South, East and West have also been flipped around.

For me the term "illusion" is a misnomer.

There are four different ways that one can view their surroundings in here on earth, and that involves a possible "reality" of directions within space that exist to enable this.

By the way, have you ever experienced a VRI yourself Triad?

Edited July 27, 2009 by Hugh

[Virtual Particle]

Well there is a disorientation involved, but there is also an awareness that one is facing a new direction after a VRI flip.

The disorientation part comes in because one's bearings of North, South, East and West have also been flipped around.

For me the term "illusion" is a misnomer.

There are four different ways that one can view their surroundings in here on earth, and that involves a possible "reality" of directions within space that exist to enable this.

By the way, have you ever experienced a VRI yourself Triad?

Given the disorientation the person is lost momentarily and then becomes reoriented by sensory stimuli.

Most do not use the earths magnetic field as a reference.

Any thoughts?

[Hugh]

Given the disorientation the person is lost momentarily and then becomes reoriented by sensory stimuli.

Most do not use the earths magnetic field as a reference.

Any thoughts?

The earth's magnetic field does the flip as well with the VRI... everything flips with a VRI... everything stays the same relative to the person and their surroundings.

But, if you're originally facing North and perform a 180 degree VRI, you are now still facing North, but in a direction that used to be South in the original viewpoint.

[Virtual Particle]

One simple test to see if a person is capable of being a fighter pilot is, to have them run about 100 feet and then stand in place and turn in a circle (in place) for 2 minutes. At that point they must walk back where to where they originally began.

I mean if one is going to become disoriented how is what your suggesting better?

Any thoughts?

PS: Just trying to understand.

[Hugh]

I mean if one is going to become disoriented how is what your suggesting better?

Any thoughts?

PS: Just trying to understand.

I appreciate that you're trying to understand, thanks.

The VRI involves a perception of orientational direction change.

North is in front of me, then the VRI happens, then North is still in front of me but is now in the opposite direction to where it was before.

There is an awareness here, although it does involve disorientation, there is an awareness of a new orientation, that's the difference between this and simple confusion.

When I'm in a movie theater and I do a 180 degree VRI, I know that everything has flipped completely around in an instant.

I can discuss more of how to do a theater VRI flip if anyone is interested... it's the easiest place to do a VRI...

[Beckys_Mom]

Anyone here ever get their bearings turned around and experience what is known as a Visual Reorientation Illusion (VRI)?

It's when everything around you, including you, experience an instant rotation of your directional bearings - either 90 degrees to the right or left, or 180 degrees completely around.

Hi Hugh

Just read the entire post. great diagram btw

Anyhoo...........I think I have experienced something similar but I can say - on a very rare occasion.. For instance, I walk out of a building or turn a corner and everything seems to be backwards, things in the wrong place from what I remember. I feel disorientated so I turn around to see where I am, and when I turn right back again, then everything seems to be familiar. But Hugh that is the closest experience going on what you are describing. Outer body experiences is something I felt I have had from I was a child...meaning all of a sudden, I could see the rest of the room from above and feel as though I was floating, but I doubt that is the same is it? NAHH LOL

As I read on where you speak of standing facing north and then can see all directions in the same place etc...I don't think I have done this, nor could I control it and make myself do it

[Hugh]

Hi Hugh

Just read the entire post. great diagram btw

Thanks! A picture is worth a thousand words.

Anyhoo...........I think I have experienced something similar but I can say - on a very rare occasion.. For instance, I walk out of a building or turn a corner and everything seems to be backwards, things in the wrong place from what I remember. I feel disorientated so I turn around to see where I am, and when I turn right back again, then everything seems to be familiar. But Hugh that is the closest experience going on what you are describing.

This sounds like a VRI, the experience of an unfamiliar viewpoint, then a flip back to a familiar one.

It seems that we all have a "normal viewpoint" of our surroundings - everywhere we go we develop a "normal" directional bearing for each space.

Sometimes, let's say after coming up from a subway, or going around a long curve, that bearing gets turned around, and we see a familiar space in an unfamiliar orientation.

One thinks - "wait a minute - things should be the other way around" and then a VRI takes place and we say "okay, now I know exactly where I am!"

What's fascinating to me about the phenomenon is that you didn't actually move to another space, but with the flip you ended up seeing the same space from a completely different vantage point.

The fact that we can see our surroundings from different angles of viewpoint - usually one familiar one and three unfamiliar ones is something that I'm extremely interested in.

As I read on where you speak of standing facing north and then can see all directions in the same place etc...I don't think I have done this, nor could I control it and make myself do it

With a VRI, one doesn't end up seeing in all directions in the same place, one only sees the same place from different directions.

When one experiences a 180 degree VRI for example, you don't end up seeing what's behind you, you end up seeing the same thing but from the direction that used to be behind you.

I hope this helps...

[G3N0M3]

Well this seems like an interesting topic going here, I've never experienced it so to say in 'real' life but I could tell you that, that is how you persieve the astral world... not all things mind you, but you explain only things I've seen while projecting, where everything is exactly backwards, or objects are seen from a side vantage point, though your looking directly to the front of it...

This is interesting to see what you mean by a VRI, I had no clue you could do this in a concious state...

A couple questions for you so I could find out more to what you mean... Like through your diagram you show that though you are facing the same object your "mental body objective location" is changed, where you think that it should actually be behind you... But yet the way you decribe it as though the object itself is moved and you are viewing it while standing infront of it, but seeing the side, or back of it... Could this be in anyway what you mean, or is it still an self objective 'rule'?

If you could explain this further that would be interesting, and post how you can mentaly do a VRI flip and see an object from the side, or back. I'm more asking this because I want to see if I could do it consciously, then while I'm projecting. This will help me read text, and even possibly percieve objects better... As in the astral realm everything is in a sort of 'flux' where everything is changing, your viewpoint is no longer vertical or horizontal but it traverse through space and time... An example to what I'm talking about would be lets say a ball with different thickness of lines and colors (though everything gets kind of 'greyed' out) when you view this ball you can see more than just the lines, colors, and texture of the ball (I can't really explain any more than that because its confuzing as it is). Anyhow you see it while projecting, and then when you wake up instead of the lines being horizontal or vertical the ball could be on an axis... Also another good example like I said before is writing, or text, even pictures. When you view any 2D object it will be mirrored and look like the writting on an ambulance, or trying to watch a TV or Movie backwards.... Its quite difficult to find out where you are other than landmarks (even these change and you could be seeing the past landmarks!! I've done it before!!)

Well hope you found this vantage point interesting... TTYL

[Hugh]

A couple questions for you so I could find out more to what you mean... Like through your diagram you show that though you are facing the same object your "mental body objective location" is changed, where you think that it should actually be behind you... But yet the way you decribe it as though the object itself is moved and you are viewing it while standing infront of it, but seeing the side, or back of it... Could this be in anyway what you mean, or is it still an self objective 'rule'?

Thanks for your questions and interest G3N0M3.

The VRI doesn't allow one to see the side or back of an object, only the same front of it that is originally facing the viewer.

Looking at the original diagram, you can see that the front of the building flips around with the front of the viewer.

The viewer is still seeing the front, but it is from a different perpendicular (90 degree) or opposite (180 degree) direction.

So nothing "new" is seen in the visual field except it's from a "new" direction of vantage.

A similar instant flip is seen with a 2D Necker Cube, but with the VRI it happens in full 3D.

[G3N0M3]

So did anything I explain to you that I percieve in an astral world co-relate with your experiences? Such as text changing, or is it all to do with your self direction?

If so than this does not interest me as much, as it would be interesting to do what I was thinking... Otherwise this whole phenomina only matters if you pay attention to which way is north and south, otherwise I don't think that this objectivity would matter past your own mental viewpoint of where you are... Kind of like the water in our heads that keep our equalibrium and tells us which way is up and down...

One last thing, when you get a VRI flip do any of your senses change other than your sense of direction?

[Hugh]

So did anything I explain to you that I percieve in an astral world co-relate with your experiences? Such as text changing, or is it all to do with your self direction?

I don't see a connection to what you have experienced in the astral world unfortunately.

If so than this does not interest me as much, as it would be interesting to do what I was thinking... Otherwise this whole phenomina only matters if you pay attention to which way is north and south, otherwise I don't think that this objectivity would matter past your own mental viewpoint of where you are... Kind of like the water in our heads that keep our equalibrium and tells us which way is up and down...

What I find interesting about it is that when you experience the flip, it's like seeing a whole new space around you...

it's like visiting a parallel dimension of sorts - another version of the space that you are familiar with.

I remember as a child first seeing the house that I lived in from other directions and it was so cool...

I'd visit each room that I was so familiar with and they would seem so strange and weird... flipped around in a new direction...

it was like exploring the unknown...

a new world, a new universe...

I'm still totally fascinated with this phenomenon today, and I try doing the flip often every day just for fun.

The people that I have helped to do the flip have been totally amazed by the experience as well.

There are ways to partially see it using mirrors and double reflections, but the actual instant rotation is great to experience.

One last thing, when you get a VRI flip do any of your senses change other than your sense of direction?

Smell, taste, touch, sound and sight all remain the same before and after the VRI flip.

[G3N0M3]

I don't see a connection to what you have experienced in the astral world unfortunately.

What I find interesting about it is that when you experience the flip, it's like seeing a whole new space around you...

it's like visiting a parallel dimension of sorts - another version of the space that you are familiar with.

I remember as a child first seeing the house that I lived in from other directions and it was so cool...

I'd visit each room that I was so familiar with and they would seem so strange and weird... flipped around in a new direction...

it was like exploring the unknown...

a new world, a new universe...

I'm still totally fascinated with this phenomenon today, and I try doing the flip often every day just for fun.

The people that I have helped to do the flip have been totally amazed by the experience as well.

There are ways to partially see it using mirrors and double reflections, but the actual instant rotation is great to experience.

Smell, taste, touch, sound and sight all remain the same before and after the VRI flip.

Yeah as to what you said it being like another reality is quite normal especialy for us as humans we will try to deny something we can't explain subconsciously, I experience that actualy quite often except sometimes it is still being conscious, kind of like my brain just CLICKS and then I see everything differently, sometimes its like another reality just crossed paths and everything is different...

So how could I do this flip that you so highly regard ?

You teach me and I'll teach you something even cooler... Lucid Dreaming, where you can control your dream indeffinatly, you could go from battling zombies to having an orgie with 20 girls, back to a videogame world... The limits are endless...

[Hugh]

Yeah as to what you said it being like another reality is quite normal especialy for us as humans we will try to deny something we can't explain subconsciously, I experience that actualy quite often except sometimes it is still being conscious, kind of like my brain just CLICKS and then I see everything differently, sometimes its like another reality just crossed paths and everything is different...

Perhaps you can initiate the VRI as well, but aren't fully aware of what is different with the new viewpoint.

Try focusing a bit more when you feel the brain click that you mention.

Is everything the same but there is a new direction of viewing involved?

So how could I do this flip that you so highly regard ?

You teach me and I'll teach you something even cooler... Lucid Dreaming, where you can control your dream indeffinatly, you could go from battling zombies to having an orgie with 20 girls, back to a videogame world... The limits are endless...

I've experienced lucid dreaming and I love to just start running and taking off and flying around, it's really fun to wake up in a dream and control what you do at will.

_______________

Okay, as far as experiencing the VRI there is a way I came up with to help, by using two mirrors.

It helps to have one stationary big mirror, like on a wall or door, and one you can hold in your hands that has a straight edge.

If you take the smaller mirror in your hands, and hold it vertically at a 90 degree angle to a wall mirror, you will see at the intersection, in the double mirror image, the 180 degree flipped around view of the viewpoint you are currently seeing.

The writing you see in that double mirror image will appear correctly, as do any photos.

If you do a 180 degree VRI flip into it, you then see where you just were in the double mirror reflection from the "other side" . You see things from the other direction!

I remember showing my parents this as a child and saying "You see that other room over there, I can go into it!"

Of course you physically don't go into the other room, you just see things from that direction.

To see the 90 degree flipped other two directions, just hold the mirror at a 45 degree angle away from the wall mirror, either on your right or left respectively, and look at the double reflection shown.

It's always easier for me to do a 180 degree flip than a 90, and fun to experience it with the double mirrors.

_______________

Another way I can easily experience a VRI is in a movie theater.

Think of how you feel when facing the movie screen towards the north.

Visualize yourself sitting in that theater facing the screen in a northerly direction.

Do the same with each of the other directions; south, east and west.

Feel how it feels to sit in each of those directions.

Then when you get to a movie theater, see which direction it is that you are facing.

You just have to think of being in another theater that faces one of the other three directions, and you should get a 90 or 180 degree VRI flip after focusing on it for a while.

If the movie begins, continue to try to do the flip every few minutes.

Don't ruin your enjoyment of the movie over it but just mentally think every once and a while which direction it is that you are facing the screen.

Think of when you watched a movie in another theater that faced in one of the other directions.

You might be surprised to find that on one of your checks that you have flipped things around. Cool.

Try to hold it there.

Realize that you are now seeing the exact same screen from another direction.

Go back to watching the movie. Play around with this and have fun.

_______________

Here is what someone called danielmoore said about experiencing a VRI for the first time in a movie theater:

"seeing VRI's is one of the most amazing experiences ive had, everything that you are familiar w/ just swaps, the places are still the same but its like viewing it from an intirely different perspective even though you and all the stuff is in the same place that it normally would be."

[G3N0M3]

Cool I'll try both of those, thanks man

So you can lucid dream every night?

If not I can help you practice and be able to do it whenever you sleep.

Its cool though to run at super speeds, or fly through the air like Goku or Superman lol, or run and blast through a building wall, or making someone you hate appear in your dream and start wailing on them, untill you like them lol. Or of course every guys favorite, sex!

LOL well I'll see you around.

G3N0M3

*edit* Or re-create your favorite video game and play as the character and play the game in your head!! LOL SOOO MUCH TO DO, AND SO MUCH TIME!!! I mean when don't you sleep

Edited July 28, 2009 by G3N0M3

[Hugh]

Cool I'll try both of those, thanks man

Great!

So you can lucid dream every night?

If not I can help you practice and be able to do it whenever you sleep.

I used to lucid dream quite often.

There was a book I had that talked about how to do it and it suggested during the day to be asking yourself often "Am I dreaming right now?" and to look around and think.

Eventually it became such a habit that I did it in one of my dreams and I actually stayed dreaming yet I knew I was dreaming.

Lots of fun flying around and such.

I had also heard that vitamin B6 helped with the lucidity, and found taking a small bit of it did help.

Good luck with the VRI experiments and report back with any successes please!

[Virtual Particle]

Hello Hugh,

Took some time to respond so you would have a chance for some other responses yes I have had experiences like this.. What you’re suggesting is interesting, as it does give a person a chance to change perspective naturally and that is a good thing. Considering what I mentioned earlier, spinning or turning in place could be a method for subjectively isolating ones self.

Any thoughts?

[t100]

After holding a hand-held mirror up to a wall mirror, it produced an interesting effect, but it wasn't something i myself could experience from my own vantage point. Which image are you suggesting to look into when holding a mirror perpendicular to the wall mirror?

[Hugh]

Hello Hugh,

Took some time to respond so you would have a chance for some other responses yes I have had experiences like this.. What you’re suggesting is interesting, as it does give a person a chance to change perspective naturally and that is a good thing. Considering what I mentioned earlier, spinning or turning in place could be a method for subjectively isolating ones self.

Any thoughts?

Thanks Triad.

It's interesting that you mention the spinning method.

There has been some research by Charles Oman for NASA that has involved VRIs.

It involved a "tumbling room" that allowed the slow moving of a room so that different visual signals would be given and the results noted.

Here's a link to one of the project papers: http://mvl.mit.edu/Neurovestibular/Pages/project2.html

Here's a picture of the interior of the tumbling room:

One can imagine the VRIs that would occur including 180 degree top to bottom ones like in space.

[Virtual Particle]

A common question to the idea of spinning in place for two minutes is, but won't that cause me to fall? The answer is no, it is only until one stops spinning that one can fall. With respect to NASA currently considering the potential literally, that this may have some effect upon feelings of isolation, as this is a behavior children engage in naturally.

With regard to meditation one cannot begin to stress the positive relevance of in respect to feelings of isolation. a particular such sensation is a very important goal in developing self awareness.

Any thoughts?

PS: Do children spin in place because they want to be alone??

Edited July 29, 2009 by Triad