Zollner illusion

[ tsuhl-ner; German tsœl-nuhr ]

/ ˈtsʌl nər; German ˈtsœl nər /

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noun Psychology.

a spatial illusion in which parallel lines intersected by short oblique lines are perceived as converging or diverging.

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Origin of Zollner illusion

1950–55; named after J. K. F. Zöllner, 19th-century German physicist

Traditional coach seats gave the illusion of comfortable padding but were angular, not reflecting body shapes.
Flying Coach Is the New Hell: How Airlines Engineer You Out of Room|Clive Irving|November 25, 2014|DAILY BEAST
And we are under no illusion that this state of affairs is confined to one battalion.
Corruption Eats Away at Ukraine Military|Charles McPhedran|October 21, 2014|DAILY BEAST
You said, “freedom of speech is an illusion” and “freedom of assembly is an illusion.”
Julian Casablancas Enters the Void: On the Strokes’ Friction, Why He Left NYC, and Starting Over|Marlow Stern|October 9, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Democracy is an illusion, freedom of speech is an illusion, freedom of assembly is an illusion.
Julian Casablancas Enters the Void: On the Strokes’ Friction, Why He Left NYC, and Starting Over|Marlow Stern|October 9, 2014|DAILY BEAST

On the surface, In Situ appears less disruptive than its alternative, but this is only an illusion.
Our Trip to The Climate War's Ground Zero|Darren Aronofsky|September 19, 2014|DAILY BEAST
But the growing crops are too cleanly and carefully weeded and too uniformly good to protract the illusion.
Glances at Europe|Horace Greeley
All this I admit to be the fever of the mind—a waking dream—an illusion to which mesmerism or magic is but a frivolity.
Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, No. CCCXXXIX. January, 1844. Vol. LV.|Various
The burning atmosphere, the motionless air caused doubtless the optical illusion.
The Wave|Algernon Blackwood
Nor wilt thou rest forever, weary heart.The last illusion is destroyed,That I eternal thought.
The Poems of Giacomo Leopardi|Giacomo Leopardi
From the first entrance, to the last cry of triumph or despair, the illusion was perfect.
The Life & Letters of Peter Ilich Tchaikovsky|Modeste Tchaikovsky