Illusions contest: The fat face thin illusion

A simple trick could help you lose weight in photos. If you turn a picture of a face on its head, it makes the face look thinner.

The Fat Face Thin Illusion was created by Peter Thompson of the University of York, UK. By comparing the upside-down picture with the identical upright one, we are led to believe that the upside-down photo shows a longer, and therefore a thinner face.

It works because we perceive face shape using the relative proportions of features such as the eyes, nose and mouth. So when these proportions are reversed by turning the picture upside down, it distorts our perception of the face’s shape.