The 3d printing optical illusion design is prepared by product designer Devin Montes. He prints illusions, decorations, and creations that fix things around the house. He considered it an off-the-cuff pet project that helps in printing cool stuff and created the curiosity to see the entire process.
The main goal of these designs is to reach all kinds of different people and encourage them to look at the world through the lens of the problem solver. It is also known as Ambiguous Cylinder Illusion.
Sugihara has added several different types of groupings and make them more complicated and unbelievable than the original. The designer explains how th method of illusion works in this video and how he made 3d printed objects. It turns out the trick is actually pretty simple, it has to do with forced perspective and an unconventional shape that Montes calls a “squircle”.
In the video, you can see a grouping of cylinders and their square reflection, in reality the object is a combination of a circle and a square that has an asymmetrical shape that distorts how it looks based on the angle that the squircle is being viewed. The camera is angled so we see a cylinder while the mirror is angled so it sees the square shape.
The trick is remarkably clever, and relies on both the reflection of the object and the limitations of the human brain to accurately detect shape and perspective. Because we see in 3D, if an object is shaped just right, our senses can be fooled.