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You are, of course, likely aware of viral phenomenon of "the dress", in which the color of the apparel was hotly debated due to the washed-out, poor quality of the photo. A majority of respondents to a survey found the dress to appear black and blue, followed by white and gold, among other color combinations. Some also reported being able to "switch" between various colour perceptions of the image. I personally see the dress as blue and black - it is possible to see the blue portions as slightly less blue, and the black portions as slightly more gold if I try hard, but the initial impression is that it appears to obviously be a blue and black dress. 

The disparity in the perception of the colour of the dress comes from the interpretation of the ambient lighting in the photo - under typical, yellowish light (like sunlight, or the typical incandescent light bulb), the dress is almost unambiguously blue and black. But if the ambient lighting is perceived to have a blue bias, then the blue in the dress is interpreted as the result of this more bluish lighting, and therefore appears to actually be white instead. 

What's especially interesting about this example is how it illustrates individual differences in the perception of colour - on a great scale in social media. Obviously there are plenty of colour illusions out there, but one of this level of individual difference is rather unusual.


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