STEAM Summer Sale Banner is F***ing with me

[SAMSHUNG]

So, there's an animated paper windmill on the banner of the current Summer Sale and to me it appears to be spinning clockwise, which is (aerodynamically) incorrect. But, if I stare at it long enough it starts spinning the correct way. It's really f***ing with me.

[Phénomènes Mystiques]

See, that is the thing with windmills and fans. Stare at them long enough, they will appear to spin in the opposite direction. Did Steam Valve do it on purpose? Sources say no, but could be wrong.

[SAMSHUNG]

Iunno if it's deliberate but it made me question my sanity this morning.

[Satoru]

https://www.whatispsychology.biz/spinning-dancer-silhouette-illusion

This is a variant of this illusion. It is in fact possible to see it go in BOTH directions depending on how your brain focuses on it will swap

What you 'see' is in fact mostly just an interpretation of the world via your brain and not what actually exists

[lightwo]

Remember how watching car wheels driving at varying speeds makes them appear as if they go in the opposite direction? With insufficient information to go from, it becomes a ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ and oh look, it's spinning in the other direction... NOT!

I presume that the fact there are very few frames to work with makes the spinning ambiguous (at least the ventilator rotors), so you wouldn't technically be wrong in either case.

That's simply what you get when you're a pixel art animator that is sane enough not to have to churn 1000 frames for what appears to be a 2 second animation (edit, 7 seconds of stuff repeating every 2-ish seconds, and cats, confirmed here).

[cSg|mc-Hotsauce]

Same thing while driving and looking at the road, come to a stop and immediately look at the road.

[SAMSHUNG]

So you all are seeing the windmill spin clockwise or counter-clockwise ?

[__++__==]

Originally posted by SAMSHUNG:

So, there's an animated paper windmill on the banner of the current Summer Sale and to me it appears to be spinning clockwise, which is (aerodynamically) incorrect. But, if I stare at it long enough it starts spinning the correct way. It's really f***ing with me. :WTL_Cat_Slight_Frown:

It's winter here.

[rawWwRrr]

Originally posted by __++__==:

Originally posted by SAMSHUNG:

So, there's an animated paper windmill on the banner of the current Summer Sale and to me it appears to be spinning clockwise, which is (aerodynamically) incorrect. But, if I stare at it long enough it starts spinning the correct way. It's really f***ing with me. :WTL_Cat_Slight_Frown:

It's winter here.

"Here" is relative.

[Start_Running]

Originally posted by Wynters:

See, that is the thing with windmills and fans. Stare at them long enough, they will appear to spin in the opposite direction. Did Steam Valve do it on purpose? Sources say no, but could be wrong.

Especially when there are limited frames of animation. I mean the windmil is only animatedf for a quarter turn

[AutisticPinoy989]

It's too flashy by appearance, so meh.

[Fiona the Gamer]

Originally posted by Start_Running:

Originally posted by Wynters:

See, that is the thing with windmills and fans. Stare at them long enough, they will appear to spin in the opposite direction. Did Steam Valve do it on purpose? Sources say no, but could be wrong.

Especially when there are limited frames of animation. I mean the windmil is only animatedf for a quarter turn

I didn't notice the windmill is spinning until, I stopped and looked at it for a while. If wait long enough, you can also see the background change from day to night, just around late in the afternoon. A lot of going on in the banner though.

[HistoricKombat]

If I tilt my head slightly down to the right, the pinwheel spins back and forth.

[Muppet among Puppets]

If you look at the bottom of such a moving thing, you can make it spin to the other side.
But when i make it move in the right direction, it looks as if it moves faster. Aerodynamically that makes sense.

[zytukin]

I'm just wondering if that banner is a scene from a game. Doubt it though, probably just an art piece

[cSg|mc-Hotsauce]

Originally posted by zytukin:

I'm just wondering if that banner is a scene from a game. Doubt it though, probably just an art piece

Waneella made it, like she did with a few other sales events.