There is one unique dress in the world, the color of which has become the subject of a big dispute in the English-speaking segment of the Internet. As is often the case in the event of a dispute, users are divided into two camps: the first are firmly convinced that the color of the dress is blue and black, while others see a combination of white and gold.

It all started with the fact that on February 25, a Tumblr user under the pseudonym Swiked posted on her blog a photo of a dress with a seemingly simple question, what color is it: white and gold or blue and black. The girl claimed that the color of the dress became the subject of a dispute between her and her friends, which resulted in a quarrel.

The photo quickly spread around the network and gained immense popularity. In a matter of hours, the photo caused a wide discussion. She launched her own #TheDress hashtag, which quickly became the trending trend on US Twitter. Almost immediately after the start of the discussion, quite witty photo-toads and jokes on this topic rained down.

Not only ordinary users, but also celebrities took part in the discussions. So, the American television star and fashion model, Kim Kardashian told her followers on Twitter that she argued with her husband, the famous American rapper and producer Kanye West, about the color of the dress. American singer Taylor Swift said that she did not understand why all the fuss was made, since "it is obvious that the dress is blue and black." At the same time, one of the main characters of The X-Files, David Duchovny, saw the colors green and blue. BuzzFeed editor-in-chief Ben Smith noted that his daughter thinks the color of the dress is greenish blue, and they are already heading to the nearest city hospital department [this is, of course, a joke].

What color is that dress? I see white & gold. Kanye sees black & blue, who is color blind?

Even tech brands have tried to benefit from the discussion about the color of the dress:

Of course, in the lively discussion around the mysterious dress, they did not forget to mention the Illuminati.

However, there is a logical explanation for all this madness that this dress gave rise to.

The color perception of a person depends on the individual characteristics of his vision. The retina is responsible for the interpretation of colors in the organ of the visual system, the structure of which is extremely complex. The outermost layer is light-(color-)perceiving and consists of neuroepithelial cells - rods and cones that perceive light and colors. The cones are responsible for the perception of colors, and the rods are responsible for the perception of shades like gray, black and white. Cones "work" only when the right amount of light hits the object. Thus, some may see the color of the fabric as white, while for others the color of the same fabric is blue due to insufficient lighting.

The retina of the human eye contains three types of cones that perceive light in the violet-blue, green-yellow and yellow-red parts of the spectrum. As for black, which many perceive as gold, there is such a thing as additive color mixing. By mixing the three primary colors (red, green and blue) in a certain ratio, most of the colors perceived by humans can be reproduced. In contrast to additive color mixing, there are subtractive synthesis schemes. As opposed to additive color mixing, there are subtractive synthesis schemes. As more and more colors are added, the final color will become progressively darker until it is completely black.

Users who believe that the color of the dress is blue-black have more efficiently functioning cones, which ultimately leads to subtractive mixing. Representatives of the second camp, who consider the dress to be white and gold, received cones that are less receptive to light, which causes additive mixing. If you increase the brightness of the smartphone or monitor screen, you can see how the dress changes color from white-gold to blue-black.

P.S. And what do you think, our dear readers, what color is the dress?

P.P.S. What color are squares A and B?

P.P.P.S. In which direction is the dancer spinning?

A photo of a dress that a girl from Scotland posted on the Internet divided the whole world into two camps - some see it dress in blue and black, other - in white and gold. Who is right and who is deceived by his sight?

The controversy over the color of the dress erupted after Scottish resident Caitlin McNeil posted a picture of the dress on her blog and asked the question to Internet users: “Help me, is this dress white and gold or blue and black? Me and my friends can't agree and we're going crazy." Within a couple of hours, the photo of the dress was scattered all over the Internet, and the world was divided into two camps: some began to claim that the dress was blue and black, others were sure that it was white and gold.

What color do you think the dress is in the photo?

It should be noted that there are much more people who see the white-gold color (according to numerous surveys on the Internet). In fact, the dress is blue and black - this was confirmed by its owner Caitlin. However, this fact did not close the debate about color.

Why do some people see the dress as blue and others as white?

When asked why someone sees blue-black, and someone sees white-golden colors in the photo of the dress, scientists tried to answer. The human retina consists of two types of photoreceptors - cones and rods. The rods are more sensitive to light and are responsible for perceiving the shape rather than the color of objects. Cones, on the contrary, are responsible for the perception of color, and not for the degree of illumination of the object. In other words, in the dark we perceive the world with rods rather than cones.

So, the susceptibility of colors depends on what is more in the human retina - cones or rods, as well as on how the object is illuminated. “Our visual system is used to rejecting information about the light source and scooping information about the actual reflected light. I have been studying individual color vision for 30 years, and in this case I see the most differences in individual perceptions of all that I have seen, ”says Jay Neitz, a neuroscientist from Washington.

And what color do you see the dress - black and blue or white and gold? We are waiting for your comments and do not forget to press the buttons and

The “viral debate” was kicked off by a post on Tumblr: the owner of the dress decided to ask Internet users for opinions on its color after she discovered similar disagreements among her loved ones. The answers turned out to be diametrically opposed: from blue with black to white with gold. At the same time, it is difficult for anyone who sees the outfit to be dark to believe that the “opponent” is not joking and actually sees the clothes shown in the photo as light (and vice versa).

The photo with the corresponding question immediately flew around the virtual space. Even the stars gave their version of color perception: for example, Kim Kardashian saw a white and gold version, Lady Gaga spoke in favor of blue and sand, and Taylor Swift is sure that the dress has blue and black colors. Only in the first day of publication on one of the sites, BuzzFeed, the photo gained 28 million views.

It is now known for sure that the dress was made in dark colors (this was shown both by the analysis of the image with the help of professional photo tools and the recognition of the owner of the “controversial clothes”), but those who see the dress as light still find it hard to believe it. Scientists talked about the reason for this optical illusion.

The system of color perception has developed in humans in the process of evolution. We have developed day vision, in which we distinguish all elements of the world around us, including color. Light enters the eye through the lens, hitting the retina at the back of the eye. Wavelengths of different wavelengths activate neural connections in the visual cortex in different ways, which translate signals into images. Night vision allows us to see the contours and movement of objects, but their colors are lost.

However, even in daylight, color perception is not always unambiguous: under different lighting, the color gamut of an object is perceived differently, and the brain also takes this into account. The same color may appear pink-red at dawn, white-blue during the day, and red at sunset. The brain makes a decision about the "reality" of the color, in each case making an allowance for concomitant factors.

This explains the difference in the perception of the same image by different people. Those who mistake the light in the background for the sun, decide that the dress is in the shade, so its light areas are obviously blue. Someone in the same bright light is more accustomed to seeing the whiteness of the dress. This is the most common version.

However, the brain of about 30% of people does not take into account the light on the background at all - in this case, the dress seems blue to him, and the gold fragments then “become” black. Each person has his own visual experience, his level of concentration, his own specific eye movements. The level of illumination in one's own environment, the color scheme of objects that the brain fixed before switching attention - all this taken together and gives a difference in perception.

Scientists have known this factor for a long time. But fundamental scientific knowledge in itself does not attract such wide public attention: this became possible only during the period of the widespread development of the Internet, combined with an interesting topic for discussion. Washington State University neuroscientist Jay Neitz told Wired.com that he has been studying individual differences in color perception for 30 years. According to him, the current example is the most significant in all the years of his research. By the way, Neitz himself sees the dress as white and gold.

Thousands of users were also confused. Even Kim Kardashian tweeted that she thought the dress was white, while her husband Kanye West clearly replied that it was blue and black.

I also agreed with Kim on the first one. After all, if the photo is lightened in Photoshop, the answer seems obvious.

But another answer seems obvious, if the photo is slightly darkened.

So which side is the truth?

So, don't believe your eyes if you think the dress is white and gold:

Moreover, there is no white color on the official website.

Why is this happening? Our visual system, as a result of evolution, has learned to filter out the hue of incident light in order to see the natural color of an object. But in some people, the brain filters out blue hues, and in others, yellow hues, which leads to a difference in perception.

In addition, if you immediately saw the dress as white and gold, and now you really distinguish between blue and black, then science has an answer to this - after all, we are not machines, and consciousness can change the sensation from the seen picture in accordance with the context.

Scottish singer Caitlin McNeill posted a photo of the dress on Tumblr asking: What color is the dress? White and gold or black and blue?

People's opinions are divided: some believe that the color of the dress is blue and black, others - white and gold.

Celebrities added fuel to the fire :) So Taylor Swift tweeted that the dress is blue and black:

I don't understand this odd dress debate and I feel like it's a trick somehow. I "m confused and scared. PS it" s OBVIOUSLY BLUE AND BLACK

Kim Kardashian (Kim Kardashian) and Kanye West (Kanye West) consider: white with gold and black with blue, respectively:

What color is that dress? I see white & gold. Kanye sees black & blue, who is color blind?

Photographer Hope Taylor(Hope Taylor) helped sort this out with Adobe Lightroom.

If you make the color of the image "warm", then the dress looks like white and gold, if the color is "cold", then the dress will turn blue and black:

Considering the lighting conditions in which the original photograph was taken, the color debate has a clear answer: dress color blue and black.

The phenomenon of different color perception is interesting. There are versions that this may be due to a number of factors, including the person's age, lighting, background color, etc.

And here is how this dress looks in the store:

The Amazon online store also confirmed the black and blue color of the dress:

The excitement around this dress was so great that the LEGO company decided to reconcile the parties: choose the color you like best :)

P.S. In the photo of Caitlin McNeil, I see white and gold. Light blue/pale blue and gold to be exact :)

UPD 04/03/2015: In the meantime, information has appeared on PzFeed that it is possible to place a pre-order for TheDress iPhone case. Issue price $17. World has gone mad:)