The video by Michael Stevens, a popular YouTuber known for his channel Vsauce, explores the concept of distortion in our perception of reality. He begins by demonstrating a time displacement effect, where pixels are mapped onto a gradient and the darker regions lag further behind. This is a fun effect that is not realistic.
He then delves into the concept of the rolling shutter effect, a phenomenon that affects digital cameras. This effect occurs when the camera scans strips of each frame instead of snapping a full exposure at once. When the subject changes faster than the camera scans, a wobbly rolling shutter effect is created, known for its distortion of fast-moving objects.
Stevens also discusses the difference between hallucinations and illusions. Hallucinations are distortions of reality when there is no apparent stimulus, while illusions occur when there is a misinterpretation of an actual stimulus. He then introduces the concept of optical phenomena, distortions caused by the properties of light and matter themselves. These phenomena are not the result of sensation or perception gone wrong, but are a natural occurrence.
He uses the example of constellations to illustrate this point. The way we perceive constellations as flat, two-dimensional patterns is an illusion. In reality, the stars that make up these constellations are light years apart from each other in three dimensions.
Stevens then discusses the limitations of our perception, particularly when it comes to distant objects like the Andromeda Galaxy. He explains that the light from different parts of the galaxy reaches us at different times due to the finite speed of light. This results in a skewed image, or the rolling shutter effect, on a cosmic scale.
He concludes by emphasizing that all our perceptions are distorted by the fact that the speed of light is finite. This includes our perception of our own bodies - our feet are about 5 to 6 light nanoseconds away from our eyes, meaning when we look at our feet, we are seeing them as they were 5 to 6 nanoseconds ago.
The video ends with a note from Michael Stevens about his upcoming appearance at the YouTube Fan Fest with HP in India.
1. The speaker is discussing a phenomenon where pixels are distorted and mapped onto a gradient, with darker regions lagging further behind.
2. This effect is not realistic, but is a common issue with many popular digital cameras, which suffer from lag-induced distortion, known as a rolling shutter.
3. The rolling shutter effect occurs when a camera quickly scans strips of each frame instead of snapping a full exposure at once.
4. When the subject changes faster than the camera scans, the rolling shutter effect is visible, resulting in a wobbly, jelly-like motion.
5. Fast objects like vibrating guitar strings and airplane propellers are often affected by this effect.
6. The rolling shutter effect is not just a curiosity, but a fundamental and inescapable distortion that affects everything we see, regardless of whether the rolling shutter is present or not.
7. A hallucination is a distortion of reality when there is no apparent stimulus, whereas a misinterpretation of an actual stimulus is considered an illusion.
8. Some distortions occur before our sense organs and minds get in the way, and are called optical phenomena.
9. Optical phenomena are distortions caused by the properties of light and matter.
10. The night sky would look vastly different if we could see it all in its true glory, without the dimness caused by light extinction and the inverse square law.
11. The Helix Nebula, for example, is 3 light years across and 700 light years away, and would appear nearly 70% the apparent diameter of our Moon if it were less dim.
12. The Moon, despite its large size, is actually tiny compared to the Andromeda Galaxy, which is 2,500,000 light years away from Earth.
13. Light travels at the fastest speed, at 300,000 kilometers a second in a vacuum.
14. The Andromeda Galaxy is more than a hundred thousand light years across and our view of it is tilted, which means that light from the back represents what Andromeda looked like thousands of years before light from the front does.
15. Changes in the appearance of a spinning object like Andromeda reach us sooner from the front than from the back, resulting in a skewed image due to the lag between light coming from near and far points on the object.
16. The distortion caused by the rolling shutter effect is negligible on a cosmic scale, as the speeds used in visualizations are not to scale.
17. The most extreme points on a galaxy would only need to be adjusted by about a 10,000th of the width of any image to correct for any lag caused by the fact that the speed of light is finite.
18. Everything we look at is in some way distorted by the fact that the speed of light is finite. For example, when we look at our feet, we are seeing where they were 5 to 6 light nano seconds ago.
19. The speaker will be at YouTube Fan Fest with HP in India soon.