Can we really trust our perception of the world? This is what the illusion room by KEAN wants to answer, set at the Old Port for the purposes of the 4-day Mediterranean Science Festival.

The illusion room, or Ames room, may seem to be an ordinary square room, but it is actually a trapezoidal one, designed to trick your brain. It is called the “Ames room” because it was devised by the American ophthalmologist Adelbert Ames, Jr. in 1934.

When 2 people of approximately the same size stand in the corners, one person looks small while the other appears huge. In other words, the design of the room tricks you into thinking that the room is normal and the people are abnormal instead of recognizing that the room is abnormally shaped and the people have normal size.

Illusions like the Ames room are being used by scientists today all over the world to study how the brain perceives the world around us. These illusions demonstrate that we cannot always trust our brain to make sense of the world around us. And that is why we need science!

For 4 days, at the Mediterranean Science Festival, you will have the opportunity to get acquainted with everything science has understood or those still studying about the world on the Earth, or even the entire universe.

Find out more here.